Comets Return! Rockets Owner Acquires Connecticut Sun for $300 Million, Team to Move to Houston in 2027

On March 28, Beijing time, ESPN reporter Phillip reported that the Fertitta family, led by Houston Rockets owner Fertitta, reached an agreement to acquire the Connecticut Sun for $300 million. The team will play its final season in Connecticut this summer and officially relocate to Houston for the 2027 season.

This also paved the way for the team to be renamed the Comets. The Comets were one of the original founding teams of the WNBA. From 1997 to 2000, led by stars such as Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, and Tina Thompson, the Comets dominated the league with four consecutive championships, but the team ultimately disbanded after the 2008 season.

Specific details have not been announced yet, but this new team is expected to be based at the Toyota Center, sharing the home arena with the Rockets.

The Connecticut Sun's predecessor was the Orlando Miracle from 1999 to 2002, which moved to Connecticut in 2003. The team has reached the WNBA Finals four times but never won a championship, and its record last season was only 11 wins and 33 losses.

Fertitta had previously been trying to secure an expansion WNBA team for Houston, but the league has repeatedly awarded expansion slots to other cities in recent years. This season, the Toronto Rhythm and Portland Fire will join the league; Philadelphia, Detroit, and Cleveland will also welcome new teams soon.

However, last fall, a group led by Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca attempted to acquire the Sun from the Mohegan Tribe for $325 million, a deal that was poised to set a record for the acquisition price of a women's professional sports team. Pagliuca planned to invest $100 million in building a new training facility and relocate the team to Boston.

But the WNBA intervened and halted the transaction, as the league preferred to prioritize cities already involved in the expansion process, and Boston was not among them. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert also stated last summer: "Houston will definitely be next."

If the WNBA continues its expansion, Boston will likely eventually have a team, but for now, Pagliuca and the Boston area must continue to wait.