It’s official: WNBA approves Connecticut Sun relocation to Houston

The formal vote Wednesday was the final step in the process, giving the WNBA the chance to grant its final seal of approval to a deal that it has guided for months. The league has faced criticism for how it handled the Connecticut Sun deal, with critics arguing that the league pushed out prospective buyers and did not allow the Mohegan Tribe, which purchased the Sun in 2003, to sell to its preferred buyer or accept a deal that would keep the team in Hartford.

Shortly after the relocation was first reported in March, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal argued that the deal was “a violation of fair competition,” calling for the federal Department of Justice to launch an antitrust investigation into the matter.

“There’s more than ample support here from fans and also from the local economy, which will suffer as a result of losing the Connecticut Sun,” he said at an April press conference in Hartford. “The WNBA must be held accountable.”

The team’s future was first thrown into the public spotlight last August when reports surfaced that Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca was looking to purchase the team for $325 million and relocate it to Boston.

That kicked off a wave of activity in Connecticut, with a group of investors led by former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry making a counteroffer to move the team to Hartford for a similar amount as the Pagliuca offer.

The Connecticut deal also had state support, with Gov. Ned Lamont floating a proposal to use pension funds to purchase a minority stake in the team to strengthen the offer.

But the WNBA, which is largely owned by the NBA and influenced by NBA-affiliated team owners, brushed off the offers, arguing that the league, not the Mohegan Tribe, was the only party with the power to approve a sale. The league’s preferred buyer had long been Houston, further aligning WNBA ownership with that of NBA teams.

The Connecticut Sun sale arrives as the WNBA is experiencing an explosion in popularity, with attendance and team valuations growing and the league looking to place teams in strong markets. The surge has also prompted calls for better facilities, pay and quality of life for players, things that the Mohegan Tribe, the first independent owner of an NBA team, had fallen behind on compared to others.

The sale closes the era of independent support that had maintained the Sun in the years before the WNBA’s popularity grew. While the team has struggled in recent years, it was one of the more successful franchises of the 2010s and early 2020s, making the playoffs eight times, and appearing in the WNBA finals twice since 2016.

With the relocation now official, Connecticut is losing its last major league sports team. And while several professional sports, including baseball and soccer, are looking to grow in the state, the Sun’s loss has been particularly difficult to swallow given Connecticut’s long history of achievement in women’s basketball.

Still, as the team searches for its first win in its last season here, those working for the Connecticut Sun say that their focus is on the fans that have backed the franchise for years, even when the WNBA wasn’t popular. The team will play two games in Hartford this year, as well as one game at Boston’s TD Garden before moving south.

“I want our staff and players to just be able to focus on this season and being present for the 2026 last season in Connecticut,” Sun president Jen Rizzotti told reporters on Wednesday. “I think our fans deserve that."

P.R. Lockhart is a reporter for The Connecticut Mirror (https://ctmirror.org). Copyright 2026 © The Connecticut Mirror.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: WNBA OKs Connecticut Sun relocation to Houston starting in 2027 season