Mohegan — Frustrated for years in attempts to land a “marquee sponsor,” the Connecticut Sun announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with Frontier Communications, the Stamford-based company that started serving Connecticut customers last year.

Under the deal, the Sun, the Mohegan Tribe-owned WNBA team that plays at Mohegan Sun Arena, will sport jerseys bearing the Frontier logo, which will also be displayed on the stanchions at each end of the arena’s basketball court and in other courtside signage, during team broadcasts and on merchandise.

It is the Sun's first such sponsorship agreement.

“We’ve been working on this since it first became possible under league rules,” Mitchell Etess, chief executive officer of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority and the team, said during a press conference at the arena. “We’ve been frustrated in the past … but this is a perfect fit.”

Over the course of the three-year deal, Frontier will pay the Sun between $1 million and $3 million, according to a source familiar with the agreement. Neither team nor Frontier officials would confirm the numbers.

In 2010, the WNBA’s New York Liberty entered into a sponsorship agreement with Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mohegan Sun’s nearby gaming rival. That agreement has expired.

With Tuesday’s announcement, the Sun becomes the ninth WNBA team to secure a marquee sponsor, according to Christine Godleski, the 12-team league’s chief operating officer.

“It demonstrates that this league is here and it’s solid,” Etess said. “To be involved with a company like Frontier, which is in nine WNBA markets … It shows the strength of the league, which is actually stronger than ever, though some people don’t want to admit it.”

Hours after the press conference, the Sun, off to an unexpectedly good start this season, hosted the Minnesota Lynx. In a couple of weeks, the WNBA All-Star Game will be played at Mohegan Sun.

For Frontier, whose takeover of AT&T’s wireline operations in Connecticut occasioned numerous customer complaints, the deal forges an alliance with one of the best-known entertainment brands in the region.

“We’re excited to be the first marque sponsor of the Connecticut Sun, the only major professional sports organization in the state,” Zach Tomblin, Frontier’s area general manager for eastern Connecticut, said. “From a cultural standpoint, it makes sense.”

Tomblin said both companies are similarly committed to serving their customers.

“It’s absolutely a symbiotic relationship,” Kevin Brown, the Mohegan tribal chairman, said of the partnership.

Frontier, which has customers in parts of 28 states, including Pennsylvania, has a partnership with Mohegan Sun Pocono, the Mohegans’ racetrack casino in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

The Mohegans purchased the Sun, originally the Orlando Miracle, in 2003, making it the first independently owned WNBA franchise.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck