WNBA approves sale of Connecticut Sun, team will relocate to Houston in 2027

The Connecticut Sun’s move to Houston is now official.

The league approved the sale and relocation of the Sun via a unanimous vote on Wednesday afternoon. The Fertitta family, led by Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, reached a $300 million deal in March to purchase the franchise and move them to Houston.

As a result of Wednesday’s vote, the franchise will now relocate to Houston in time for the 2027 campaign.

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This paves the way for the franchise to be rebranded as the Comets, which was one of the original WNBA franchises when the league was first founded. The Comets won four straight WNBA titles from 1997-2000 behind stars like Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper and Tina Thompson, but the team was disbanded after the 2008 campaign.

Specifics are not yet known, but the team will presumably play at the Toyota Center and share the arena with the Rockets.

The Sun relocated to Connecticut in 2003 after originally starting as the Orlando Miracle from 1999-2002. They’ve reached four WNBA Finals, but have never won a title. They went just 11-33 last season, and lost back-to-back games to open the 2026 campaign. The news of the vote came shortly before the Sun were set to host the Las Vegas Aces.

Fertitta has previously tried to bring a WNBA expansion team to Houston, but the league has opted to expand elsewhere repeatedly in recent years. The Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire entered the league this season, and teams in Philadelphia, Detroit and Cleveland will all join in the coming years.

A group led by Boston Celtics minority owner Stephen Pagliuca tried to buy the Sun from the Mohegan Tribe for $325 million last fall, which would have been the highest price ever paid for a professional women’s team. He would have spent $100 million on a new practice facility and moved the team to Boston instead. But the WNBA stepped in and stopped that deal in an effort to prioritize cities that have taken part in the expansion progress, something Boston had not yet done. Boston will presumably get a franchise eventually if the WNBA keeps expanding at the same rate.

But for now, it’s Houston’s turn. The franchise that dominated the league in its early years is officially making a comeback.