Connecticut Sun sold to Rockets owner, bringing WNBA back to Houston

The Houston Comets were the WNBA’s first dynasty, winning four consecutive championships from 1997 to 2000. Then, in 2008, the team disbanded. But the Comets are reportedly close to being revived.

According to reports from ESPN and Houston’s Paper City Magazine Friday, March 27, the Connecticut Sun are being sold to the Fertitta family and the name is expected to be changed back to the Comets. Tilman Fertitta, a Texas-based billionaire who is also the current U. S.

Ambassador to Italy, owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets. The sale price for the Sun is $300 million, according to ESPN, which would be a record-setting figure for a WNBA team. Multiple reports state the team will play its final season in Connecticut this year at the Mohegan Sun Arena then relocate to Houston for the 2027 season and play at the Toyota Center, which is also home to Fertitta’s Rockets.

Two people familiar with the sale of the Sun told USA TODAY Sports that an official announcement is expected to come Monday, March 30. Under Naismith Hall of Fame coach Van Chancellor, the Comets won the first four WNBA championships, powered by three Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame players: Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson. The Comets defeated the New York Liberty for three of those titles and bested the Phoenix Mercury for the 1998 crown.