Connecticut Sun’s confirmed move to Houston shifted WNBA history back to Houston once again, several years after the Comets were dissolved in 2008. But it also casts doubt on the credibility of the $300m deal, which was executed despite many lucrative offers on the table. Now, a US Senator has shared a take on the WNBA’s eyebrow-raising move.
Richard Blumenthal, a senator from Connecticut, urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to step in to validate the league’s credibility in facilitating the Sun’s move to Houston and its sale to businessman Tilman Fertitta, the owner of the Houston Rockets. The Senator expressed his views via an X post.
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“WNBA put a full-court press on blocking the Sun from staying in CT, deeply harmful to fans who live and breathe basketball. DOJ should investigate such & stop such anticompetitive interference,” the post read.
The Houston deal was chosen over several other, more lucrative proposals. A former Celtics stakeholder, Stephen Pagliuca, offered $325 million to move the team to Boston and pledged another $100 million for a new arena. A competing bid from Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry’s group also hit the $325 million mark, with a plan to keep the team in Connecticut by relocating it to Hartford.
But in subsequent processes, the WNBA blocked both of these offers for the Mohegan Tribe, citing that Houston was better qualified. Additionally, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert had also called out Houston back in June, stating that the city is next in line to be part of the WNBA’s expansion. And nearly a year later, the league sold the team’s stakes to Houston for $300 million, $25 million less than what Stephen Pagliuca and Marc Lasry had initially offered.
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Nevertheless, Blumenthal’s move to approach the DOJ isn’t out of the blue. In fact, the U.S. senator had sounded alarmed over the WNBA’s participation in these two bid discussions last year during a stalemate between the Mohegan Tribe and the league.
“Any further attempts by the WNBA to use its considerable governance and market power over the Connecticut Sun to limit or dictate negotiations with the state of Connecticut,” Blumenthal had written in a letter. “Could be an unreasonable restraint of trade and interference with the market that would violate federal antitrust laws.”
With the decision taken on Friday, the Connecticut Sun will move to Houston in 2027, where they are said to share the Toyota Center with the NBA’s Houston Rockets, and will be rebranded for the second time in the team’s history after moving from the Orlando Miracle in its initial years. But beyond the basketball community, this move has caused a stir much more among those associated with basketball around Connecticut.
NCAA D1 Coach Explains the Impact Behind Connecticut Sun’s Move to Houston
Being the only major league basketball franchise in the state, the Connecticut Sun was much more than just a team to the public. It’s said to represent the pride people take in the sport. UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma, who has been around the Connecticut basketball circuit for all these years, recently shed light on how the franchise’s move impacts the region as a whole.
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“The people at Mohegan Sun stepped up when they were needed & brought a team to Connecticut, as Conn. deserves to have a team b/c we’re a proven [place] where people would support women’s basketball. Now [with them] moving, I think it leaves a void,” Auriemma said.
On a positive note, the team’s move from Connecticut to Houston also allows it to tap into much larger markets. The growth of basketball in Houston has been quite steady, with the Houston Rockets dominating the NBA and the Texas Longhorns in college basketball.
Yet despite that, the 23-year-old legacy of the Mohegan Tribe and the people of Connecticut is what Auriemma is leaning into. For one last season, the Connecticut Sun will play at the Mohegan Sun Arena in the 2026 WNBA, which is set to start in May.
