The Connecticut Sun franchise is reportedly being sold to the owners of the Houston Rockets, the Fertitta family, for $300 million. The record-breaking price for a WNBA team, which did not include a relocation fee, will bring the WNBA back to Houston after the Comets were folded and disbanded in 2008.

One final season will be played in Uncasville, Connecticut, in 2026 before relocating in 2027. An official announcement is expected Monday, but the final sale and relocation still need to be approved by the Board of Governors. Houston’s bid was helped by previously having been vetted by the league for potential future expansion or relocation.

ESPN reports that the relocated franchise is expected to use the Comets’ name. The Comets were an original WNBA franchise, part of the league from 1997 to 2008, winning four straight championships from 1997 to 2000.

The Sun have been owned by the Mohegan Tribe since 2003, when they bought and relocated the then Orlando Miracle from Florida to Uncasville. At the time, they were the league’s first non-NBA owners and the first Native American tribe to own a professional sports team. The sale thus marks the WNBA’s return to having more teams with NBA owners.

The sale will also mark the end of a couple-year-long saga involving the Sun franchise. They had launched a process to explore investment options in fall 2024 and initially reached a deal last summer to sell the team and move the franchise to Boston. But the WNBA blocked that deal, saying 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 -- which includes Houston -- have priority over Boston. Several other options were explored to keep the team in Connecticut, including trying to work out a way to use state funds before that possibility sputtered out.

PaperCity Magazine was first to report the news of the sale to the Fertittas.

Though Uncasville was the league’s smallest market and struggled to attract free agents because of that and insufficient facilities/investment, they were incredibly successful on the court. Falling just short of winning a championship, the Sun made the playoffs eight years in a row and advanced to the WNBA Finals four times before entering a rebuild in 2025. Moving the team is exciting for Houston fans, but disappointing for a committed Connecticut fanbase and the ownership that stepped up in 2003.