Patrick Fertitta says the time is right to begin the next era of Comets basketball after Fertitta Entertainment confirmed the $300 million purchase of the Connecticut Sun on Monday.
Patrick Fertitta, alternate governor of the Houston Rockets, spoke to the significance of Monday's confirmed sale of the Connecticut Sun to Fertitta Entertainment as the franchise prepares to relocate to Houston and revive the Comets name for the 2027 WNBA season.
"My family and I are thrilled for the opportunity to bring the Houston Comets back to this incredible city," Fertitta said in the team's announcement. "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, and we look forward to working with the WNBA as we move through this process."
The deal is valued at a league-record $300 million and will require no relocation fee. The Comets are expected to play at Toyota Center when the 2027 WNBA season begins.
There were alternative outcomes that could have transpired instead of the WNBA returning to Houston.
According to the Sports Business Journal, Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca had a tentative agreement in place to buy the Sun, and former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry matched a $325 million offer. Between the two of them, there were separate plans to relocate the Sun to Boston and Hartford.
The WNBA resisted both possibilities, prioritizing either keeping the franchise in Uncasville, Connecticut, or moving it to a city that had already submitted an expansion bid, like Houston. Neither buyer was willing to remain at the Sun's longtime home of Mohegan Sun Arena.
The Comets were one of the WNBA's original eight franchises, winning the league's first four championships in 12 seasons from 1997 to 2008. The team made nine playoff appearances with a core that featured Hall of Famers Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, and Tina Thompson, along with former head coach Van Chancellor, before folding in 2008.
In Connecticut, the reaction was more bittersweet. Former Sun vice president, general manager, and COO Chris Sienko posted a tribute on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.
"The Connecticut Sun hold a singular place in this league's history as the first independently owned WNBA franchise. That was never a small thing," Sienko wrote. "That legacy does not relocate. It stays here."
Fans can visit houstoncomets.com to place a $99 per seat deposit for priority access to season tickets ahead of the 2027 debut.