Houston Rockets Ownership to Bring WNBA Back to H-Town

Graphic courtesy of the Houston Comets

On March 27, Fertitta Entertainment – the company of the owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, Tilman J. Fertitta – entered into an agreement to purchase the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. The move comes as part of plans to relocate the Sun to Houston in time for the 2027 WNBA season. Fertitta plans to bring back the classic Houston Comets name and branding and have them play games at the Toyota Center in downtown Houston.

“My family and I are thrilled for the opportunity to bring the Houston Comets back to this incredible city,” said Rockets Alternate Governor Patrick Fertitta in a news release. “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 Comets were one of the eight founding teams in the WNBA and quickly established themselves as one of the league's great dynastic teams. The Comets, led by Basketball Hall of Fame players such as Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, and Tina Thompson, won the first four championships in league history.

Across 12 seasons from 1997 to 2008, the Houston Comets made the playoffs in nine of those years. However, an ownership change in 2007 prompted a financial collapse of the team, with the Comets dissolving and players being dispersed to other teams in December 2008.