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Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta has long pursued a merger of his sprawling casino and restaurant business with Nevada’s iconic Caesars Entertainment. He’s finally pulling it off. Fertitta Entertainment, the Houston company that owns Las Vegas’ Golden Nugget, restaurant giant Landry’s and chains like Rainforest Cafe and Morton’s, is acquiring Caesars in a $17.6 billion deal that combines two of the nation’s largest casino, hotel and restaurant empires.
The WNBA and NBA board of governors unanimously approved the sale and relocation of the Connecticut Sun to Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, the league announced Wednesday. The two sides had reached an agreement to sell the team for $300 million in March, according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke then on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the sale. The two sides had to wait for approval from the board of governors to make it official.
“I don’t see (team governor) Tilman (Fertitta) ever wanting to take a step back that isn’t strategic,” Stone said. “If we weren’t (in the tax), it’s because of some opportunity to do something else that is basketball related.”
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.
“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.”
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Ramona Shelburne: The Houston group is buying the Sun for $300 million and did NOT have to pay a relocation fee, sources told ESPN.
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.
Varun Shankar: More Stone: "We like this group. And credit to Tilman Fertitta, he didn't have an appetite for taking a step back. He definitely wanted to spend the money and give this group a chance to be as good as it can be."
Houston, meanwhile, wanted Brooks to influence its young core. The Rockets banked that Brooks' toughness and work ethic would set the tone, alongside fellow free agent acquisition Fred VanVleet and recently hired head coach Ime Udoka, as the franchise's rebuild entered what owner Tilman Fertitta termed as "Phase II." After dwelling in or near the West cellar the previous three years, the Rockets made a leap to 41-41 in 2023-24 and 52-30 last season. Brooks embraced his role as a mentor and defensive menace, accepting that he was usually the fifth offensive option in Houston's starting lineup. "He helped change the culture over here," said Rockets guard Amen Thompson, a rising star who was a rookie when Brooks arrived in Houston. "I feel like Houston loves him. They embrace him and that's my guy. That's like a big brother to me."
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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NBA team owner Fertitta lit the brazier, a traditional Italian firepit in the Piazza Ruggero Settimo in the heart of Palermo after receiving the Olympic flame from Inzaghi, to conclude the festivities.
Kevin Durant: “To walk in here every day, you see the attention to detail from everybody — not just the leadership of Rafael and Ime and Tilman but everybody who works in here — the level of detail that it takes to become a successful team and franchise. So happy I’m a part of that. I want to keep working to build and show my worth here.”
Though the WNBA and the Mohegan Tribe have rarely communicated since that July meeting, the league has made its leaders aware that it has one clear option to resolve this dispute: They could sell the Sun to the league for $250 million, which would then sell it to Tilman Fertitta and allow him to move the team to Houston, multiple sources said.