Alexa PhilippouMar 27, 2026, 06:06 PM ET
- Covers women's college basketball and the WNBA
- Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant
- Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquirer
The Connecticut Sun franchise is being sold to the Fertitta family to bring the WNBA back to Houston, sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday.
The sale closed at $300 million, a record-breaking price for a WNBA team, and did not include a relocation fee, according to sources.
The team will play one final season in Uncasville, Connecticut, in 2026 before relocating in 2027. Houston had previously been approved by the league as a city for future expansion or relocation.
An official announcement is expected Monday.
Sources said the franchise is expected to use the Comets' name, harking back to when the Houston Comets were part of the league from 1997 to 2008, an iconic original franchise that won four straight championships from 1997 to 2000.
The WNBA previously indicated strong interest in returning to Houston. At the league's three-team expansion announcement last June, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert highlighted the city of Houston and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta as "up next" and "the one we have our eye on."
ESPN reported in December that the Rockets' ownership was in substantive talks with the Sun to buy the franchise. A sale to Rockets ownership marks the latest example of the WNBA moving toward having more teams with NBA owners.
The Sun have been owned by the Mohegan Tribe since 2003, when they bought and relocated the franchise (then the Orlando Miracle) from Florida to Uncasville.
The Sun launched a process to explore investment options in fall 2024, initially seeking to assess opportunities for a limited partnership sale that would help fund an infrastructure build. Sun ownership initially reached a deal to sell the team for a record $325 million to a group led by former Boston Celtics minority owner Stephen Pagliuca that would have moved the franchise to Boston. But the WNBA effectively blocked the deal from progressing, holding firm that "relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams" and that cities that have already gone through the expansion process have priority over Boston.
PaperCity Magazine of Houston was first to report the news of the sale to the Fertittas.
ESPN's Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.
