After a bid to maneuver the Connecticut Solar to Boston fell by means of this summer time, the WNBA franchise may very well be leaving New England completely.
The Houston Rockets’ possession group is in “substantive talks” with the Solar “over the potential buy and relocation” of the workforce, ESPN’s Alexa Philippou and Ramona Shelburne reported Friday.
A proper supply has been mentioned however not finalized, per the report, and “there has not been a call on the way forward for the franchise.”
The Solar, who’re owned by the Mohegan Tribe, have performed at Mohegan Solar Enviornment in Uncasville, Conn., since 2003. Houston has not been dwelling to a WNBA workforce because the Comets, winners of the league’s first 4 championships, folded in 2008.
Former Celtics minority proprietor Steve Pagliuca reached an settlement in August to buy the Sun for a reported $325 million, transfer the workforce to TD Backyard in 2027 and construct a $100 million follow facility within the Boston space.
The WNBA stonewalled that proposal, nevertheless, saying on the time that the league should approve all relocations and that “9 further cities … at the moment have precedence over Boston” as a result of they utilized for groups throughout the newest growth course of and Boston didn’t. Accepted growth groups in Portland, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia are set to debut within the subsequent 5 years.
“Relocation selections are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and never by particular person groups,” the league mentioned in an announcement in August.
Pagluica acknowledged in his personal assertion that his plan — which included endorsements from Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee — “can not proceed with out” WNBA approval, which it didn’t obtain.
“We are going to respect, cooperate with, and abide by all league guidelines and selections on these issues,” he mentioned in August.
New Celtics majority proprietor Invoice Chisholm, whose group beat out Pagliuca’s within the bidding warfare for Boston’s NBA franchise, has expressed curiosity in bringing a WNBA workforce to town sooner or later.
“To begin with, I believe Boston ought to have a workforce,” Chisholm mentioned in his introductory information convention in September. “That is the perfect sports activities metropolis within the nation, and that is the birthplace of basketball, so we should always have a workforce. … It’s positively one thing we’re going to have a look at, and the NBA has a course of. We’ll do what we will to expedite issues, however this can be a course of there. However philosophically, it makes a lot sense.”
In its assertion rebuffing Pagliuca’s supply, the WNBA mentioned Chisholm’s possession group had “reached out to the league workplace and requested that Boston obtain sturdy consideration for a WNBA franchise on the applicable time.”
The Solar performed video games at TD Backyard in 2024 and 2025, promoting out each.
