Houston Comets Set to Return in 2027 as Fertitta Buys Connecticut Sun

Four championship banners have hung in the rafters of Toyota Center for 17 years with no team beneath them. The Fertitta family, owners of the Houston Rockets, reached agreement last week to purchase the Connecticut Sun for $300 million, a record price in WNBA history, and revive the Houston Comets for a 2027 debut at Toyota Center, ending the city's absence from women's professional basketball since the original franchise folded in 2008.

Rockets alternate governor Patrick Fertitta confirmed the deal in a public statement Monday. "My family and I are thrilled for the opportunity to bring the Houston Comets back to this incredible city," he said. "Houston has a proud championship history in the WNBA, with banners from the Comets' four historic championship seasons still hanging in the rafters of Toyota Center. We believe the time is right to begin the next great era of Comets basketball."

The sale, which did not include a relocation fee, still requires approval from the WNBA's Board of Governors before it is finalized. Connecticut will host the Sun for one final season in Uncasville in 2026 before the franchise moves to Houston. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert had said publicly that Houston "would be up next for sure" among cities targeted for league growth.

For the blocks surrounding Toyota Center, the financial math is already being calculated. Rice University professor Carrie Potter told KHOU that the economic impact could surpass $70 million in year one, citing the $70-million-plus revenue the Golden State Valkyries generated in their first WNBA season. Matt Ragan, managing director of Rebees Management, the company redeveloping the Greenstreet corridor adjacent to Toyota Center, said the combination of NBA and WNBA home dates could extend that economic benefit across most of the calendar year. At Guadalajara Restaurant in Greenstreet, general manager Jossai De La Paz was already fielding a buzzing lunch crowd on the news: "Pretty excited here. We've been having the men's basketball team for a while. I think it's pretty good that we're finally getting a women's team. It's been a while."

The original Comets were not merely successful; they were foundational. One of the WNBA's eight original franchises in 1997, Houston won the league's first four championships consecutively and made nine playoff appearances over 12 seasons. Hall of Famers Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson, along with head coach Van Chancellor, built a dynasty still celebrated on the Houston Sports Walk of Fame. When ownership collapsed and the franchise was dissolved after 2008, Houston lost what had been the defining team in women's professional basketball.

The $300 million price exceeds Houston's earlier $250 million bid for an expansion slot, the same fee paid by Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia for new franchises, and surpasses a $325 million offer from a Boston group the WNBA blocked from completing a similar deal last fall. Fans can place a $99-per-seat priority deposit for season tickets at houstoncomets.com while league approval proceeds.

Beyond arena economics, the return carries weight for girls' basketball across Harris County. The Rockets organization's existing youth clinics and community outreach infrastructure gives the new Comets an immediate platform; ownership has signaled plans for community programs directed into Houston neighborhoods once the deal closes. The last WNBA franchise to relocate was the Las Vegas Aces, which moved from San Antonio in 2017. If the Board of Governors approves as widely expected, those four banners in Toyota Center's rafters will finally have a team playing underneath them again.