The Connecticut Sun has finally found a new home in Houston. Following a heavy back-and-forth with the league authorities, the Mohegan Tribe was finally able to sell off the franchise. With the team moving to Houston, they will be rebranded as the Comets. A team that originally formed the first eight teams of the WNBA.
As the women’s basketball realm was buzzing with the latest CBA, the news did add to the narrative. A $300 million sale is quite a profitable number for the Mohegan Tribe. And while there has been widespread criticism around how the sudden relocation might affect the league negatively, the WNBA revealed that there was a chance for the franchise to remain in Connecticut.
WNBA Confirms Interest From Boston And Hartford Buyers Would Have Benefitted Connecticut Sun
The Sun has called the Mohegan Sun Arena its home for 20 long years. Thus, when the announcement confirmed that the stadium would no longer echo from 2027, it shocked fans. According to a report from the Sports Business Journal, the league front office confirmed interest from parties in Hartford and Boston.
And the league was more than happy to give them the green signal to go ahead with their proposal. However, none of them wanted to keep the team’s headquarters in Uncasville. Thus, the WNBA decided to reject their plea and grant the sale to Tilman Fertitta, who is also the owner of the Houston Rockets.
Sources: WNBA would have allowed prospective buyers from either Boston or Hartford to purchase the Sun for $325M if they had been willing to keep the team in Uncasville. https://t.co/a8p470LvrR
— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) March 29, 2026
Last year, Boston Celtics’ Steve Pagliuca created ripples with his $325 million sale offer. And that was not all. The former Marc Lasry, owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, matched his offer. But in both cases, the original plan was to relocate the team either to Boston or to Hartford. And this immediately put off the WNBA front office. With the league pushing back on the sales, it created a huge fuss and even involved U.S. senators.
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Why Was US Senator Richard Blumenthal Involved In The Connecticut Sun Sales?
After Pagliuca’s $325 million offer, everything looked done and dusted. But soon, the league intervened and pushed back on the sale. Instead, they urged the Mohegan Tribe to explore alternative sale paths. Owing to such a situation, US Senator Blumenthal warned the league that it could face federal antitrust law violations charges.
“Any further attempts by the WNBA to use its considerable governance and market power over the Connecticut Sun to limit or dictate negotiations with the state of Connecticut could be a unreasonable restraint of trade and interference with the market that would violate federal antitrust laws,” said Blumenthal.
The WNBA is blocking a record $325M sale of the Connecticut Sun. Why? Because they don’t want “regular” billionaires, only NBA billionaires.
— Quita Loves Sports (@quitalovesports) August 20, 2025
Independent owners like the Mohegan Tribe helped to save this league when NBA teams bailed. Now the league is blocking their $325M sale of… pic.twitter.com/J3o1zcQSD5
Surely, there were a lot of factors hindering the sale. And now, with things finally settled, all eyes will be on the Houston Comets.