It was pretty much a down day for Houston’s sports fans this past Friday.
The No. 2-seeded University of Houston Cougars were bounced from the NCAA Tournament – right in front of us – by Illinois during Thursday night’s Sweet 16 round here at the Toyota Center.
The Astros failed to launch in a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels during Thursday’s Opening Day at Daikin Park.
The Rockets were a couple of days removed from a heartbreaking 110-108 overtime loss at the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Nothing seemed to be going right in sports in Houston until word leaked Friday that Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta had reached a $300 million deal to bring back … I mean, to purchase the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun franchise.
While nothing official has been announced yet by the Fertittas, the Rockets, or the WNBA, we know what it is. The WNBA Board of Governors just has to sign off on it to make it official.
The Fertitta family confirmed the purchase of the Sun and the intention on Monday morning.
“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. “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 franchise is on the way back to Houston in 2027. How is that for a pick-me-up for the city?
The WNBA’s first dynasty franchise is returning to a city that once so embraced the Comets. It’s still crazy that the team up and disbanded in 2008, but that’s a gripe for another day.
The focus now is that the Comets, who won four straight WNBA championships from 1997 to 2000, are returning to a city that has always loved them.
We owe it to Fertitta.
The Rockets’ owner continues to be a man of his word when it comes to basketball in this city. He has invested heavily in the Rockets returning to be a contender; his financial backing has put the University of Houston in a place of national relevance beyond our imagination, and now he is on the verge of gifting the Comets back to Houston.
Fertitta vowed last year to return the Comets to Houston, but that plan was dealt a blow when the WNBA decided to expand to three cities that are not Houston. Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia were awarded future franchises
And for months, Houston felt let down, with only WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s promise that Houston was the next city up.
Fertitta remained vigilant, and the WNBA kept its word.
Recently, it looked like the Connecticut franchise was headed to Boston for $350 million, but the WNBA and its Board of Governors put the brakes on that deal because the proper procedures hadn’t been followed and because there was a strong preference for relocating any franchise to a city that had gone through the expansion process.
That was Houston’s opportunity. Fertitta seized it for the city.
The $300 million paid for the Sun is a WNBA franchise record, but the financial return on investment may be hard to achieve. But the good thing is that the WNBA is in much better shape than it was when the Comets came in as one of the WNBA’s founding franchises.
While the Comets are synonymous with players Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, and Tina Thompson, as well as head coach Van Chancellor, this new franchise will be stocked with young stars and quality coaches.
The WNBA is different now.
There is greater interest in the league and its new stars, such as A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Caitlin Clark, and Alyssa Thomas. We can likely look forward to Thomas joining the franchise in Houston.
There is no proof that the league is financially solvent, or how the recently agreed-upon seven-year collective bargaining agreement that raises the salary cap to $7 million per team will affect the WNBA.
But there is no denying that the league’s popularity has grown, and so has the excitement level in Houston.
The Comets are coming back!
