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During halftime of Sunday’s WNBA preseason game between the Connecticut Sun and the New York Liberty at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., the 10-time All-Star made it clear that she is not hanging up her sneakers anytime soon. “I got a chip on my shoulder. A lot of people counting me out, want to call me old, want to say I need to retire and s–t. I’m not,” Griner said during an interview before joining her team in the locker room.
Alexa Philippou: Confirming @SheKnowsSports: 10x All-Star Brittney Griner is signing a seven-figure deal to join the Connecticut Sun, sources confirmed to ESPN. A massive get for the Sun in their final year in CT. BG is also from Houston as the Sun franchise preps to relocate to the city in 2027
Houston Rockets owner Tilman J. Fertitta’s company, Fertitta Entertainment, has entered into an agreement to purchase the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, with plans to relocate the franchise to Houston and bring back the historic Houston Comets name. Pending league approval, the franchise is expected to begin play at Toyota Center for the start of the 2027 WNBA season.
Alexa Philippou: BREAKING: The Connecticut Sun is being sold to the Fertitta family to bring the WNBA back to Houston, sources confirmed to ESPN The team was sold for $300 million, sources said. Team will play final season in CT in '26 before relocation. The Comets are back.
Houston Rockets ownership is in substantive talks with the Connecticut Sun over the potential purchase and relocation of the WNBA franchise, sources told ESPN this week. The discussions have been described as "positive," and Rockets ownership has improved its offer to a number the Sun might find acceptable, a source close to the situation said. The source said that while a formal offer has been discussed, the parties have not signed an exclusivity agreement and there has not been a decision on the future of the franchise. The WNBA previously indicated strong interest in a return to Houston. At the league's three-team expansion announcement in June, commissioner Cathy Engelbert specifically highlighted Houston and Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta as "up next" and "the one we have our eye on." The Sun have been owned by the Mohegan tribe since 2003, when they bought and relocated the franchise from Orlando, Florida, to Uncasville, Connecticut. A sale to Rockets ownership would mark the latest example of the WNBA moving toward having more teams with NBA owners.
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Word has persisted that Houston continues to be the leading destination for relocation of the Connecticut Sun, according to league sources, if the franchise is indeed moved out of the Mohegan Sun casino to a new locale.
Magic Johnson: So, this young brother—we had him, he was in the Stanford MBA program—but we recruited him to join our company. He negotiated the WNBA Sparks deal that we had. And thank you for that, too—that we entrusted this deal in this young brother's hands. Now, we’ve owned the Sparks for a few years. We haven’t made a dime. All right? It’s been tough going for the WNBA… except now. Hold on—there was a time when we said, "Should we sell this?" And we kept saying, "No, let’s hold on to it." Now, a group out of Boston just bought the Connecticut Sun for $325 million. Oh, thank God we didn’t sell too early. Cuz now—we only paid $10 million for the franchise. So when you think about that return we’re going to have… it’s amazing.
The Connecticut Sun ownership intends to present multiple options to the WNBA as it looks to salvage what would have been a record-breaking $325 million franchise sale, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN. The Mohegan tribe, which has owned the franchise since buying and relocating the Orlando Miracle in 2003, is seeking clarity on the league's desired path forward for the organization, sources said, after an agreement to sell the team to a group led by former Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca was met with resistance from the league office. After news broke of the deal's existence -- and Pagliuca's eventual plan to relocate the franchise to Boston -- a league statement emphasized that "relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams," and that cities that have already gone through the expansion process have priority over Boston, which did not submit an expansion bid in any of the three recent expansion rounds over the past three years. Among the Mohegan tribe's likely proposals to the league, according to sources: • A full franchise sale to Pagliuca's group. • A sale to a group headlined by former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, who would move the team to Hartford, Connecticut. • Selling a minority stake in the organization. • Allowing the league to purchase the franchise for $325 million and relocate it from the WNBA's smallest market.
Gov. Ned Lamont is hoping to woo NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as Connecticut continues to make its case to keep its only major league team. The WNBA has still not yet approved a sale for the Connecticut Sun. The Mohegan Tribe repeated its statement that it’s pursuing investment opportunities and that it can’t comment on potential sales.
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The Mohegan Tribe’s ambition to sell and relocate the Connecticut Sun to Boston for a record $325M has created tension within the league office, sources said, leading to a terse WNBA statement Saturday that the nine cities who lost recent expansion bids “currently have priority over Boston” and inferring that the Tribe could be forced to sell to one of those cities instead. Those sources said that the Sun, over recent months, has shunned other cities that have inquired about buying the team -- refusing to take meetings with bidders outside of Boston, for instance -- and “hasn’t been great in how they have handled” the prospective sale. “They just don’t feel like the league has any control over their process,” the source said. “It will get much worse before it gets better.”
WNBA basketball could be in Boston permanently by 2027 as a Boston-based group led by Celtics minority governor Steve Pagliuca has reached a deal with the Mohegan Tribe to move the Connecticut Sun to TD Garden, according to multiple sources involved in the transaction.
The offer follows a surge in national attention for Cunningham after a hard foul against the Connecticut Sun in June, where she appeared to step in as an enforcer to protect rookie phenom Caitlin Clark. Cunningham was fined but gained notoriety and a wave of endorsement interest. Cunningham, 28, joined the Fever in February after spending five seasons with the Phoenix Mercury. Known for her outside shooting and gritty play, she’s averaged 7.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game over her WNBA career.
Eight-time WNBA All-Star and three-time Olympian Tina Charles is signing a one-year deal with the Connecticut Sun as a free agent, sources told ESPN on Sunday. With the move, Charles returns to the franchise that initially drafted her No. 1 overall in 2010, where she spent the first four seasons of her career and won league MVP in 2012.