AP Photo / David J. Phillip, File
Houston Comets’ Cynthia Cooper (14) goes up for a layup between Utah Starzz defenders Elena Baranova (28) and Cindy Brown (15) in this Aug. 16, 1999 file photo in Houston.
Houston Rockets ownership is reportedly in talks to buy the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun and relocate the professional women’s basketball team to Southeast Texas.
Friday’s ESPN report about discussions between the Rockets and the Sun, citing unnamed sources, comes several months after Houston was left out of the WNBA’s five-year expansion plan. While Texas’ largest city was not picked for an expansion franchise, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert did go out of her way to mention Houston when the expansion was announced in June, according to the Associated Press.
Engelbert mentioned the former Houston Comets, who won the first four league championships when the WNBA was founded in the 1990s, before the team folded after the 2008 season.
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“There are a variety of cities that obviously bid, and one of those I wanted to shout out — because they have such a strong history in this league and their great ownership group — is Houston,” Engelbert said, according to the AP. “The Houston Comets were just an amazing one, the first four inaugural championships in the WNBA. So I would say that’s the one, obviously, we have our eye on. (Rockets owner) Tilman (Fertitta) has been a great supporter of the WNBA, and we’ll stay tuned on that.”
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The Connecticut team was founded in 1999 as the Orlando Miracle. In 2003, the Mohegan Tribe — a federally recognized sovereign nation in Connecticut — bought the team and renamed it as the Connecticut Sun.
In a statement to Houston Public Media on Friday, the Mohegan Tribe’s leadership said it “continues to actively explore different avenues of investment opportunities” for the team.
“We fully understand and appreciate the value of the phenomenal women’s basketball we have had the privilege to support and lead for 23 remarkable seasons,” the statement read. “No agreement has been reached at this time, and we are not at liberty to discuss the details of any potential concepts under consideration.”
According to ESPN, anonymous sources told the sports news outlet that the discussions regarding a potential sale had been “positive.”
Neither the Rockets nor Fertitta Entertainment, Inc. — Tilman Fertitta’s parent company that owns the Rockets — immediately responded to requests for comment.