Connecticut Sun sold, team will relocate to Houston (report)

The Sun is setting in Connecticut. Chris Baldwin of Paper City Mag reported late Friday afternoon that the Fertitta family purchased the Connecticut Sun . ESPN’s Alexa Philippou confirmed the news and added that her sources said the sale was for $300 million.

The Sun will play a final season in Uncasville in 2026 before moving to Houston. The move marks a return to Houston by the WNBA after the Comets, one of the league’s original teams, played there from 1997-2008. Philippou and Ramona Shelburne reported in December that the Fertitta family, which also owns the Houston Rockets were in “substantive talks” with the WNBA to purchase the team .

Connecticut became the Sun’s home in 2003 when the Mohegan Tribe purchased and relocated the team from Orlando. The sale of the team has been a topic for close to a year. In August, Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca confirmed that he attempted to buy the Sun and relocate the team to Boston.

Pagliuca reached a deal with the Mohegan Tribe worth $325 million for the team plus an additional $100 million to move the team and put together new training facilities. Former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry matched Pagliuca’s $325 million offer and was willing to keep the team in Connecticut, but move the franchise from Uncasville to Hartford, according to CT Insider . The WNBA blocked Pagliuca’s deal from progressing, saying the WNBA Board of Governors decides on when and where a team can relocate, not the individual teams.