The WNBA Board of Governors voted unanimously Tuesday to approve Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta's $85 million purchase of the Connecticut Sun, with the franchise relocating to Houston effective the 2027 season. The deal ends Connecticut's presence in the league after 27 years and marks the second-largest WNBA transaction on record, trailing only the $1 billion valuation CNBC assigned this week to the Golden State Valkyries.
The Sun played their first game in Connecticut in 1999 as the Orlando Miracle's successor franchise. They reached five WNBA Finals, most recently in 2022, and posted the league's second-best attendance figure in 2025 at 8,200 per game in the 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena. Fertitta, who bought the Rockets in 2017 for $2.2 billion, will operate both franchises from Houston's downtown Toyota Center, which already hosts 41 Rockets home games and more than 150 annual events across NBA, concerts, and corporate functions. The Sun's 2026 season in Connecticut proceeds as scheduled. Relocation occurs after the Finals.
The timing reflects two forces. First, the WNBA's media rights deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBC—signed in July 2024 for $200 million annually through 2036—tripled the league's previous broadcast revenue and made franchises instantly more valuable. The Valkyries launched play in May 2025 and were worth $1 billion in CNBC's franchise rankings published Monday, a figure that resets the floor for expansion and relocation deals. Second, Connecticut's market dynamics eroded. The state has 3.6 million residents, but the Sun competed for attention with UConn women's basketball, the Boston franchises 90 minutes south, and a saturated Mohegan Sun casino sponsorship portfolio that prioritized UFC and boxing over long-term WNBA investment. Houston, by contrast, is the fourth-largest U.S. city with 7.1 million metro residents, no WNBA team since the Comets folded in 2008, and Fertitta's existing infrastructure for ticketing, sponsorship, and broadcast integration with AT&T SportsNet Southwest.
Fertitta's move also preempts a crowded expansion cycle. The WNBA announced in December 2024 it would add three franchises by 2028, with Toronto, Philadelphia, and Nashville named as finalists. Portland submitted a bid in February. By acquiring and relocating the Sun, Fertitta bypasses the $125 million expansion fee the league was expected to charge new ownership groups and locks in a franchise $40 million cheaper than the going rate. He also inherits a roster that includes 2025 All-Star forward Alyssa Thomas and head coach Stephanie White, who signed a three-year extension in November. The Sun finished 26-14 last season and lost in the second round to Las Vegas.
Sponsor implications are immediate. The Sun's primary jersey patch deal with LifeBridge Health, a Maryland hospital system, expires in December 2026. Houston's corporate base includes 22 Fortune 500 headquarters, more than any U.S. city except New York. Energy companies—Shell, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton—already sponsor Rockets assets and will likely bid for WNBA inventory. Fertitta's Landry's restaurant empire, which operates 600 locations including Morton's and Bubba Gump, provides built-in hospitality and suite activation. The Rockets sold $47 million in sponsorship revenue in fiscal 2025 per team filings. WNBA teams average $12 million in annual sponsorship, but the Valkyries cleared $20 million in year one.
Connecticut's loss is not trivial. The state legislature provided $5 million in tax credits to the Sun in 2018 as part of a Mohegan Sun Arena renovation. The team employed 180 full-time and part-time staff and generated $18 million in annual economic impact, per a 2023 study commissioned by the Mohegan Tribe. Governor Ned Lamont's office issued a statement Tuesday calling the relocation "disappointing" but did not indicate any effort to block the sale. The franchise's previous ownership group, Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, purchased the team in 2003 for an undisclosed sum believed to be under $10 million. The $85 million exit represents a clean win.
Fertitta will present construction and branding plans to the league by September. The Toyota Center requires no structural changes—its 18,000-seat capacity and existing locker room infrastructure accommodate WNBA play. The franchise name is unresolved. "Houston Sun" preserves brand equity but competes with the city's association with the defunct Comets, who won the league's first four championships from 1997 to 2000. Fertitta trademarked "Houston Flight" and "Houston Power" in March, per filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The league's schedule, released in December, will slot Houston into the Western Conference.
The Valkyries' $1 billion valuation, meanwhile, establishes a new benchmark. CNBC's analysis credited their $20 million in year-one sponsorship, 9,100 average attendance at Chase Center, and integration with the Golden State Warriors' corporate infrastructure. The Valkyries' ownership group, led by Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob, paid a $50 million expansion fee in 2023. Their valuation implies a 20x return in under three years. The WNBA now has 13 franchises, with Toronto, Philadelphia, and Nashville launching between 2026 and 2028. Portland's bid remains under review.
Fertitta's next call is to Nike, which holds WNBA apparel rights through 2037. The Rockets' Nike deal, signed in 2019, generates $8 million annually and includes co-branded City Edition uniforms. The Sun's current Nike contract, bundled with league-wide terms, does not include Houston-specific co-branding. Fertitta's team is pushing for a standalone Nike agreement that mirrors the Valkyries' $12 million annual apparel deal, per a person familiar with the discussions. Nike's answer will arrive before the July 15 deadline for 2027 uniform submissions.
The takeaway
Fertitta paid **$40M under expansion price** and inherits a playoff team, Houston's **7M metro**, and Rockets infrastructure already clearing **$47M** in sponsorship.
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