SportsBiz: Comets just flamed out

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By Tim Lemke

Imagine the New York Yankees going out of business. Picture the Boston Celtics closing up shop.

That's reality for the WNBA. The Houston Comets, the league's most decorated franchise, has suspended operations for the 2009 season, citing an inability to find a new team owner.

"Multiple investors have come forward and expressed significant interest in purchasing the Comets and having them continue to play in Houston in 2009," WNBA commissioner Donna Orender said. "However, we made the judgment that we would not be able to complete a transaction with the right ownership group in time for the 2009 season. The WNBA is extremely grateful to the Comets organization, to the city of Houston and to the team's loyal fans for helping build both the WNBA and the game of women's basketball."

The WNBA stopped short of saying the Comets are out of business forever. While the players will be sent to other teams through a dispersal draft, the league only said the team would be suspending operations for 2009. There are indications the league could resurrect the franchise if a local investor were to step in.

Regardless of the team's long-term future, this is not good news for the WNBA. On one hand, shuttering any franchise in this economic environment should surprise no one. And it's no secret that the league has struggled to maintain a stable crop of teams - closing franchises in Cleveland, Miami, Charlotte, N.C., and Portland, Ore., and relocating several other teams.

But the Comets were the crown jewel of the WNBA in its early years, winning the league's first four titles and earning nine playoff berths. Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Tina Thompson formed as formidable a trio as any in sports. The team averaged more than 10,000 fans a game during its first six years, but crowds dwindled as the team moved from the former Compaq Center to Toyota Center, then to the smaller Reliant Arena.

Trouble for the Comets apparently started when Leslie Alexander, longtime owner of both the Comets and the NBA's Rockets, chose to sell the WNBA franchise to local businessman Hilton Koch. The sale was widely seen as a good thing for the Comets; it provided independent ownership similar to that of the Washington Mystics and Los Angeles Sparks. But Koch did not anticipate the financial losses, and the WNBA soon took over the team.

The economic downturn also didn't help. While the Comets were being sold for only $10 million - compared to hundreds of millions of dollars for most other major sports teams - a lack of credit in the marketplace and general wariness by investors made for a tepid response when the team went up for sale.

The WNBA has had its highs and lows through the years - and this is truly one of the lows.