The WNBA unanimously approved the Connecticut Sun's relocation to Houston for the 2027 season, ending the franchise's 28-year run in Uncasville. Tilman Fertitta is buying the Sun and moving them to Toyota Center, where his Rockets already play. The price is not disclosed, but Golden State Valkyries—who played their first season in 2025—are now valued at $1 billion in CNBC's latest ranking, setting a new floor for incoming ownership groups. The Sun sale follows that benchmark.
The move closes the league's longest geographic gap. Houston has been without a WNBA team since the Comets folded in 2008, despite being the fourth-largest metro in the country. Fertitta gets immediate venue control, shared infrastructure with the Rockets, and a market that still remembers four consecutive championships. Connecticut loses its only major professional franchise. The Mohegan Sun casino, which owns the arena, loses its anchor tenant. The Sun averaged 6,847 fans per game in 2025, third in the league, but the building seats 9,323 and the roster payroll is capped. Fertitta can write bigger checks.
This is the first relocation since Tulsa moved to Dallas in 2016, but the league is now managing three simultaneous expansions. Portland and Toronto enter in 2026. Philadelphia is expected in 2028. Miami, Nashville, and Denver are circling. The new 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal with Disney, Amazon, and NBC is already funding higher payrolls under the fresh CBA, but the infrastructure is not scaling at the same speed. The Valkyries play in a 12,000-seat arena. The Sun's new Houston home seats 18,055 for basketball. The Philadelphia bid, led by Elevate Sports Ventures, is eyeing the 18,500-seat Wells Fargo Center. The league is moving from college gyms to NBA-sized buildings without the ticket revenue history to justify it yet.
Valuations are climbing because the asset class is new and the comp set is thin. The Valkyries were valued at $50 million when the expansion was announced in 2023. They are now at $1 billion, a 20x increase in three years. The Las Vegas Aces, valued at $140 million in 2021, are now second at $850 million. The New York Liberty, sold for $50 million in 2019, are third at $825 million. The math works if you believe women's sports are structurally undervalued and the media rights are a decade behind where they should be. The math breaks if attendance growth stalls or the next CBA negotiation tilts too hard toward players. The current CBA runs through 2027.
The front-office labor market is tightening. General managers are getting poached by expansion teams before their current teams finish rebuilding. Coaches are being offered equity stakes. The Valkyries hired Ohemaa Nyanin as GM from the Aces' front office in 2024. Portland hired Kara Lawson, Duke's head coach, in 2025. Toronto is expected to announce a president of basketball operations by June, and the short list includes two current WNBA GMs. The hiring cycle is compressing because the expansion timeline is compressing. Teams need front offices before they can hold drafts, and the 2026 expansion draft for Portland and Toronto is in December 2025.
Watch the Philadelphia announcement. The bid group has been quiet since the 2028 target year was floated in March, but Elevate Sports Ventures has Sixers ownership backing and venue access already locked. If Philadelphia confirms before the 2026 season starts, the league will have added five teams in four years. Watch the Sun's coaching staff. Stephanie White left Connecticut for the Liberty in 2024, and the Sun are now on their third coach in three years. Fertitta will want his own hire. Watch the next CNBC valuation report in 2027. If the Valkyries stay at $1 billion or climb, the expansion fee for the next city will reset again.
The takeaway
WNBA franchises are repricing faster than infrastructure—Houston gets a team, Connecticut loses one, and the next expansion fee is already higher.
wnbafranchise valuationrelocationexpansionwomen's sportsmedia rights
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