Basketball team’s 1,750-mile relocation confirmed as record-breaking $300m sale to NBA owner approved
The Connecticut Sun will officially relocate to Houston in 2027.
After what has been a prolonged process, the WNBA and NBA Board of Governors on Wednesday approved the sale of the franchise from the Mohegan Tribe to Houston Rockets owner Tilman J. Fertitta.
The unanimous vote — which marks the final step in the transaction that has long been speculated — confirms this season will be the Sun’s last in Connecticut before moving 1,750 miles.
Fertitta purchased the team for a record-breaking $300 million, according to The Athletic.
The Sun will soon be re-branded as the Comets, a WNBA team originally based in Houston.
Between 1997 and 2008, the Comets won four-straight championships (1997-2000) and established themselves as the league’s first dynasty, before folding at the height of the Great Recession.
To this day, they are one of two teams in the WNBA that are undefeated in the Finals — the Seattle Storm are the other.
The sale of the Sun to Fertitta is expected to close soon, and couldn’t be completed without league approval.
“I want our staff and players to just be able to focus on this season and being present for the 2026 last season in Connecticut,” team president Jen Rizzotti told reporters Wednesday.
“I think our fans deserve that.
“And I think as a front office staff, our job is to continue to put on a great show and put a great product on the floor, but also make sure that we’re inviting people into this arena for the last time, and they’re going to create some experiences that will last forever.”
During their final season in Connecticut, the Sun will play two games at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, and another at TD Garden in Boston, alongside their regular contests at the 9,300-capacity Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville.
Rizzotti added that relocation to Houston will be a ‘positive’ for both players and staff.
“As far as the move, we’ll digest that when the time comes after the season,” she said.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of positive repercussions of being associated with a team that has the kind of resources and infrastructure that Houston has, and I think that’s a positive for our players and our basketball staff as they move into the future, especially with this new CBA.”
It’s believed that those who work for the Sun, and want to move to Houston will be welcomed to do so, but more formal conversations are expected in the coming months.
What are the expectations for the Connecticut Sun in 2026?
News of a relocation to Texas came ahead of the team’s game against the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday.
Connecticut were routed 98-69 inside their home arena.
The Sun have started the 2026 season 0-3, and sit bottom of the Eastern Conference early on.
A’ja Wilson put up a double-double for the Aces in Connecticut, and the two teams will play again on Friday.
While the Sun have been a WNBA powerhouse in recent years, with to two finals and four semifinals appearances between 2019 and 2024, things fell off a cliff in 2025.
Connecticut went 11-33 last season, after losing head coach Stephanie White and their entire 2024 starting lineup in the offseason.
Marina Mabrey also made a request to be traded, but the team denied her a move and insisted they wanted to build around her.
Following a dreadful year, Mabrey finally got her wish to depart in April, when she was taken sixth overall by the Toronto Tempo in last month’s expansion draft.
Every trace of the powerhouse Sun is now gone, and this season is expected to be a painful one for local fans in Connecticut, before they lose their team to Houston.
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