THE SUN SETS IN UNCASVILLE

After a months long journey, the Connecticut Sun have been sold.

On March 27, Paper City Magazine reported that the Sun have been sold to the Fertitta family. ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou reported that the team was sold for $300 million, however the current Sun ownership will apparently not receive relocation fees.

If the name Fertitta sounds familiar, you might recognize them as the owners of the NBA’s Houston Rockets. And this ownership will be moving the Sun from Uncasville to Houston starting in 2027. The sale signifies the end of the Sun’s history and rebirth of the Houston Comets.

For fans in Houston, this moment calls for celebration as the WNBA’s original dynasty returns. For the basketball community in the New England, it’s a moment of sadness, disappointment, and frustration.

"I think the people at Mohegan Sun, I think they stepped up when they were needed and brought a team to Connecticut as Connecticut deserves to have a team, because we're a proven basketball, women's basketball (fanbase), you know, where people will support women's basketball," UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said. "So them now moving, yeah, I think it leaves, a void.”

If the WNBA and NBA offices have their way, that void will be filled by Boston during the next round of expansions. From Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal:

“Boston obviously has an NBA arena, too, but sources said the WNBA was willing to pass on them in the near team with the expectation the city would be in line for an expansion team in the early 2030s — when, by then, W franchises could sell for $400M to $500M.”

Throughout the process, the league office has deterred Boston based owners from buying the Sun and moving them to a new city. As we’ve discussed here at the Women’s Basketball Roundup, NBA owners get priority treatment when it comes to acquiring WNBA franchises, and this move is the latest in a long trend.

Sun fans are left with an awkward and uncomfortable situation as they watch their team for the final time in 2026. There will be games in Hartford, CT and Boston this year, and the atmosphere promises to be emotional. For Cathy Engelbert and the league office, the atmosphere will be… well it’ll be something!

The WNBA should have handled this situation better. Connecticut was a strong market when others abandoned the league. Their contributions helped the league stay afloat even during tough times. However, the lure of an original city and NBA dollars made the Sun a non-starter for this era of the WNBA.

As Houston returns to the league, we should take a moment to appreciate what Connecticut did and challenge leadership in the WNBA and NBA to be better.

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