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The Fertitta family, who own the NBA’s Houston Rockets, are purchasing the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun with the intention of moving the team to Houston, PaperCity Magazine and ESPN reported Friday.
The upcoming season will be the last the Sun play in Connecticut, their home since 2003, before relocating to Houston ahead of the 2027 season. They will be renamed the Houston Comets after the city’s previous WNBA franchise, according to PaperCity.
ESPN reported that the Fertittas purchased the Sun for $300m.
The Mohegan Tribe, current owners of the Sun, entertained offers to sell the team last year. The state of Connecticut proposed a plan to keep the team in-state but move it to the capital of Hartford, while former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry submitted an offer and reportedly wanted to move the team to Boston.
The Fertitta family, led by Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, entered the picture with reports of their interest surfacing in December.
Houston had also pursued an expansion franchise, but the WNBA instead selected Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia in the latest round of expansion deals.
The Mohegan Tribe purchased the team formerly known as the Orlando Miracle and moved them to Uncasville, Connecticut, in 2003. They sent a letter to fans last season promising the team would spend at least the 2026 season in their current home of Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Sun have never won a WNBA title but have lost four times in the league finals, most recently in 2022.
Tilman Fertitta, who also serves as the the US ambassador to Italy, was a visible figure during the recent Milano Cortina Winter Olympics as a member of the US presidential delegation, appearing alongside vice-president JD Vance at a number of events.
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