Just days after a lawsuit was brought against Chicago Sky majority owner Michael Alter by one of the team’s minority owners over an alleged violation of fiduciary duty to his investors, the WNBA franchise’s practice facility in Bedford Park is now under scrutiny.

In documents obtained by No Cap Space WBB, the Village of Bedford Park Board of Trustees groused over alleged cost overruns and expressed concerns over a possible revision to the construction contract that, they believed, would have the town on the hook for more money than originally agreed upon.

While the contract was reviewed once more at the February 3rd meeting, trustees did vote to approve the GMP — or guaranteed maximum price for the project — on January 26th clearing any potential financing roadblocks out of the Sky’s way for now. The confusion is another set of frustrations for various members of the Board, who feel that the back-and-forth between themselves, their real estate partner Concord Capital, general contractor ALPA and the Sky organization is reaching a fever pitch.

“You know, it’s a damn shame that we get have to — we get down to this thing and the disagreements, it just puts a dividing line between the Village and the Sky management,” said Trustee Terry Stocks on Tuesday night, according to meeting transcripts.

“It’s a moving line, but it’s not only the Sky,” added Village President David Brady in that same meeting, “This design review process that we went through, it was not good. I think we’ll end up okay, but its’ not — it’s not good.”

While the facility is not in any jeopardy of being delayed further, documents obtained by No Cap Space WBB, as well as conversations with several sources in and around the Chicago Sky organization, paint a picture of a well-meaning but disorganized ownership group — specifically principal owner Michael Alter, chief operating officer Nadia Rawlinson (who is believed to own around three to four percent of the team, a source says) that has a tendency to say one thing to one party and a completely different thing to another.

Both Alter and Rawlinson were asked for comment on this story through the Sky organization and declined, citing ongoing work with the WNBA’s CBA negotiation.

Alter’s most recent public statements came in the form of a response to the lawsuit, where Steven Rogers, a longtime minority owner of the team, alleges that Alter engaged in “self-dealing” and operated with a “blatant disregard for the operating agreement and minimum standards of competence for business operations.”

Robert A. Chapman, counsel for Michael Alter and the Chicago Sky, released a statement on Sunday afternoon, in response to the suit.

"We are aware of the lawsuit filed last week by an early Chicago Sky investor. The lawsuit is completely meritless. We look forward to defending our case through the appropriate legal channels and believe this matter will be disposed of quickly. This matter will not affect the Sky's operations. Because this is active litigation, neither Mr. Alter nor the Chicago Sky will be commenting further."

Rogers, who retired in 2019 from Harvard Business School after several years as a Senior Lecturer, has served on the Board of Directors for several companies including cleaning product giant S.C. Johnson & Son (the makers of products such as Windex) and Oakmark Capital Mutual Funds, to name a few.

He invested in the Chicago Sky in 2006 and was one of the first investors in the team along with Alter, who shouldered the load of the initial $10 million WNBA expansion fee. Over the last two decades, the franchise has sold additional shares to investors like Rawlinson, who joined the ownership group in 2023.

The suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, came with heavy redactions when provided to No Cap Space WBB via open records request. While substantial portions, likely related to contractually sensitive matters, are unavailable for public consumption, several claims made by the Rogers Smith Partnership, which is comprised of Rogers himself and partners that are listed as “Illinois residents” in the suit, are unredacted.

The lawsuit alleges, in layman’s terms, that through a series of limited liability corporations (or LLC’s), Alter was able to exercise “near total control of the Sky and related entities”. It also accuses him of being able “to claim the self-benefitting transaction because he was dealing with himself” and that “he had claimed for himself nearly unlimited discretion to engage in such transactions without review.” Specific claims and examples made by the plaintiff within the lawsuit are heavily redacted.

While Alter does appear to be the principal owner of several LLC’s relating to the Chicago Sky, per documents obtained by No Cap Space WBB, it is important to note that this is fairly standard practice among professional sports franchises and other companies of substantial size or value. But frustration with Alter, and those in his orbit or perceived to be in his circle, isn’t just restricted to his business handlings.

On October 21st, 2024, sources say that an owner’s meeting was convened to address several matters relating to the past season. The Sky finished 13-27 in former LSU superstar Angel Reese’s rookie year, one filled with a substantial amount of noise and controversy as her positioning against Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark turned a basketball rivalry into a cultural flashpoint.

Teresa Weatherspoon, Chicago’s head coach for that first season, was fired in what felt like a surprise to many in and outside of the organization. Last week, Weatherspoon joined Angel Reese on the Sky forward’s podcast, Unapologetically Angel, to discuss her firing.

“It’s not good to wake up and you see your screen and see you’re let go and people are asking you ‘Why were you let go?’ and I’m looking like, ‘Hell, I don’t know. I can’t answer that for you,’” the Unrivaled coach told her former player.

It was in that October 2024 meeting that owners, curious as to why Weatherspoon was let go, met with Alter, Rawlinson and general manager Jeff Pagliocca. When pressed about why the head coach was fired, sources allege that Pagliocca laid the blame on an apparent perception about Weatherspoon by agents and players around the league.

“Jeff told us that no agents would talk to him as long as [Weatherspoon] is the coach,” a source present told No Cap Space.

Two written questions — asking if that was indeed the reason for Weatherspoon’s firing and if that was the reason given to owners in that meeting — were sent to the Chicago Sky press office by NCS specifically for comment from Pagliocca, in order to give the GM the opportunity to deny the allegations or discuss, on record, what happened.

The Sky GM, through team PR, declined to answer both questions.

No Cap Space WBB talked to multiple agents representing WNBA and NCAA women’s basketball players and were flatly told that they had either not had any conversation of the sort with Pagliocca nor had they ever heard discussion within player circles that the organization was off limits due to Weatherspoon.

Instead, the institutional belief in many WNBA orbits is that the Sky themselves seem to be more convinced that their organizational aptitude outweighs individual contributions. But, as players have alluded to over the last decade, the reverse appears to be true with players and coaches succeeding in spite of a franchise that carries a perception of being unwilling to invest in success.

In 2014, now-Hall-of-Famer Sylvia Fowles demanded a trade from the team, landing with the Minnesota Lynx and citing their state-of-the-art training center as a reason for her desire to be moved there.

In 2016, then-head coach Pokey Chatman was fired amidst a rumored rift between her and Elena Delle Donne, an allegation that the superstar denied in her autobiography My Shot: Balancing It All And Standing Tall. Later reporting by Chicago Tribune writer Phil Thompson actually implied the reverse had happened.

“Delle Donne has become discouraged by the ‘revolving door’ in Chicago, a source requesting anonymity put it, as players and coaches have left the team or were fired,” Thompson wrote in 2017.

Alter later remarked to Crain’s Chicago Business that year that Delle Donne, one of the biggest stars in the WNBA at the time, and her departure didn’t materially affect the Sky’s business and that the trade put the team in a better position to win championships. Chicago’s only four playoff appearances up to that point came during her tenure.

And while, on some level, Alter would be proven right in the long term — Chicago won the 2021 WNBA Finals with Kahleah Copper, who the Sky received in that trade, winning Finals MVP — their perception as something of an unfriendly franchise to players still persists even today.

In the years since, star players from Gabby Williams to Courtney Williams have discussed their negative experiences in Chicago while reporting has surfaced about a lack of support staff and general resources. Veteran guard Courtney Vandersloot recalled to the Chicago Tribune’s Julia Poe last summer about her experiences in the early 2010’s with the organization.

“We find people that have multiple skill sets here and have them do multiple jobs,” Vandersloot told Poe “That has kind of been the old blueprint. More for your buck, I guess.”

That includes figures such as Ann Crosby, who serves as the VP of basketball operations and is still the team’s strength and conditioning coach. According to the Tribune and Vandersloot, the team cycled through four athletic trainers in her first two seasons.

“It was like a revolving door,” continued Vandersloot, “I think most of it had to do with a lack of money. You can’t get good people without paying them, right?”

How much money the organization has, as well as how much Alter and the owners are willing to spend, has been one of the closest guarded secrets within the organization. The Alter Group, a commercial real estate firm founded by Michael’s father, William, was at one point one of the largest of its kind in the United States. They were hit extraordinarily hard by the Great Recession of 2007-2009, forcing Alter to dip into his savings to keep the company liquid and avoid layoffs. While he hadn’t securitized the loans the firm used to fund their projects (the type of mortgage-backed-securities and collateralized-debt-obligations that created the economic collapse), cash flow pressure on The Alter Group was severe.

Alter claimed to Bisnow in 2016, the company managed to get out pretty unscathed, even managing to sell off 60% of The Alter Group’s building portfolio at a profit, reinvesting it into several buildings including several in Chicago. It was during this time that Alter continued to subsidize the Sky, receiving some help from Ariel Investments CEO John Rogers (no relation to minority owner Steven Rogers), who upped his ownership stake in the team. John Rogers is now, according to a source, the second largest shareholder of the franchise.

It wasn’t until that October 21st, 2024 meeting, that source continued, that owners received welcome news amid their frustration over the Weatherspoon firing: the Sky had turned a profit for the first time in the history of the franchise.

Alter, through Sky PR, declined to answer if the team did indeed turn a profit and if revenue share disbursements were sent to the entirety of the ownership group. By December 2025, the franchise was valued at $240 million according to Forbes, seventh among active WNBA franchises. When Rawlinson and the rest of the new Sky owners arrived in 2023, the franchise was valued at $85 million.

In spite of all financial signs pointing to health and sustainability, the Sky continued to solicit aid for financing their long-discussed practice facility. They entered into an agreement with the Village of Bedford Park, which houses Midway Airport and was an attractive destination, some sources allege, because of their $12.5 million tax surplus in their 2023 General Fund.

At the Board of trustees meeting on January 27th, 2026, Village President David Brady, the most recent contract agreed upon between the parties — ALPA, Concord, the Chicago Sky and Bedford Park — saw the guaranteed maximum price of the project pencil out at $43.2 million with Bedford Park covering the first $32 million.

Brady told trustees that there was a new cost projection: an estimated $45.7 million, along with, according to Brady, “probably $600,000 that could be removed but not added on.”

The frustration began when Alter and the Sky proposed that the additional cost be shared between the Village and the organization. Bedford Park would pay for 44 percent while the Sky would front the remaining 56. Even with work continuing on the project, which will be wholly owned by the Village, there is still some mystery to what the final costs will look like for both sides.

The fault there, Brady argued, lied more with Concord Capital — who have been roundly criticized by the Board through phase 2 of this project — than Alter or the Sky.

“Concord and ALPA have never given us direct lines on what are Sky costs and what are Village costs,” Brady said, according to the board meeting transcript.

The Sky, it should be noted, are shouldering a higher percentage cost of the facility — initially on the hook for 18 percent of the project’s final bill but now will pay around 27 percent — but Village members expressed worry about an added revision to the contract along with the new costs.

“It looks like, by the wording of the revision that we were sent, we would be paying all the money back that the Sky put in the project which would be about $14-15 million,” said Brady. “We can’t do that.”

In short, the money the Sky paid to help build the facility would have to be paid back by Bedford Park on top of all the incentives they were already giving the WNBA franchise. According to Brady, the Sky dropped that request in the second revision of the contract with the Village.

The team’s argument was that they had no equity in the building and thus, if they left after one year at the facility, the franchise had effectively fronted the money to speed along construction. The Village’s rebuttal was that the Sky are getting tax free, utility free, maintenance free breaks already as long as they remain in Bedford Park.

Similar confusion and concerns about spending and resource allocation followed Alter back into the Sky organization as well, where consistent criticism has been lodged against the franchise for repeatedly being on the lower end of WNBA spenders.

What are the Sky, really? Are they indeed a franchise in need of a principal owner with deeper pockets and a willingness to spend? Or do Michael Alter and his ownership group actually have the money and are operating on the cheap? That murkiness has hung over the franchise since the early 2010’s and, according to many, comes back to its principal owner and the circle of trusted advisors he keeps.

A source present for the October 21st, 2024 meeting, told NCS that a question was posed.

“Where’s our billionaire? Should we sell the team?”

Sixteen months later, Bedford Park trustees discussed Alter amongst themselves as they tried to work through potential revisions to their contract with the Sky.

“He’s obviously very intelligent, very, very wealthy, he wants to build eventually,” said Village Attorney Larry Gryczewski.

“He could build his own stadium,” Brady jumped in. “He’s told me that.”

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