Houston: You have Sun

The WNBA's Connecticut Sun are heading to Houston after the 2026 season.

We started hearing rumblings months ago, Steve Pagliuca, former partial owner of the Boston Celtics, wanted to bring the Connecticut Sun to Boston. It was extremely exciting news, especially since the Sun had been playing one game a season at TD Garden the last few years, and it was always sold out. Then came former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, who matched Pagliuca's offer and wanted to move the team to Hartford, which is no more than 45 minutes away from their current location in Uncasville, CT. Hartford is a thriving city and the move would keep the team in New England, and in the state that helped shape the Sun. Both offers were strong and promised to keep the team in the northeast.

Naturally, the WNBA rejected it.

This wasn't on the league's terms. They wanted to pay less to get the team back in Houston, home of the former 4x WNBA champion Houston Comets. Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta gets the team for $300 million ($25 million less than the other offers), the WNBA gets its wish and New England gets their basketball team ripped from them.

According to Sports Business Journal: "Fertitta, as reported Friday by Chris Baldwin of PaperCity Magazine, has a purchase agreement to acquire the Sun for a league-record $300M, along with what one source called a “sweetheart deal” to move the team to Houston in 2027 without a relocation fee."

No relocation fee and $25 million less than other offers. The league office gave both Pagliuca and Lasry a hard time for wanting to move the team 45 minutes (Hartford) or 2 hours away (Boston), respectively.

Thanks a lot, league office.

Taking a WNBA team that has been there for over 20 years and moving them, thus leaving you without any team in one of the most important sports media markets in the US, is quite the choice. That means Boston needs to wait five years to be able to bring a team to the city. FIVE YEARS.

What are we doing here? An area of the United States that has a thriving women's collegiate program (see Huskies, a la UCONN), a city in Boston that has always been known for supportive sports fans, multiple years of the Sun playing in TD Garden which were sold out, and you decide to remove yourself from that market completely? This is the city that just go their NWSL squad, and it was a sold out first game. There is energy around them and coming in right on their heels would have been a great way to give Boston, and New England, a 1-2 punch in women's pro sports.

Boston didn't apply for expansion because of the Sun. Why would they do that and try to get a second team in New England? Relocation made the most sense, and would have allowed that fanbase to remain the same, already established and just keep growing. Even Lasry's offer to move to Hartford would have allowed for much of the same, keep that established fanbase and keep building.

The NBA and WNBA league offices pop champagne at the deal, while the fans are left with nothing but painful memories and a distaste for the league in their hearts.