As a basketball player and fan, and former Rockets employee, the WNBA’s return to Houston is a dream come true. Yet I can’t celebrate wholeheartedly knowing there are 160,000-plus Connecticut fans and female basketball players experiencing the nightmare of losing their team.

The Comets’ return signals a new era for women’s basketball, defined by growth, visibility and profitability. Yet its reemergence alongside another city losing its team reveals a deeper issue: Women’s sports still operates within a zero-sum framework. Because while the Sun garnered four years of increasing attendance, with a record 169,012 attending games in the 2025 season, fans now need to go south to see their favorite stars.

For decades, scholars have warned against this approach. And making city shifts doesn’t address structural inequities. Moving a team doesn’t break the barrier women and girls continually face regarding funding, access and cultural perceptions of their sport participation. Switching cities — rather than adding teams — doesn’t remedy how girls are afforded 1.3 million fewer athletic opportunities than boys. And these disparities are compounded by race and class, where access to sport is often determined by geography and financial resources. Team moves aren’t addressing these issues.

Still, demand has never been higher. Women’s sports viewership is rising, sponsorships are increasing and fan engagement is expanding across demographics.

So why are teams........

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