Basketball - Houston Comets Sold To A Furniture Deale

Houston Comets has been bought by Hilton Koch, a furniture dealer. This makes the Comets’ the fifth independently owned franchise in the WNBA. The WNBA Board of Governors approved the sale of the franchise.

Leslie Alexander owned the Comets previously and he also owns the Houston Rockets. However, Alexander decided to sell the Comets so that he can focus his entire attention on the Rockets. This was disclosed by Rockets’ chief operating officer, Tad Brown.

Brown said that the decision was very difficult for Alexander to make. He was looking for a buyer who would keep the Comets in Houston and make sure that the team continued playing at the Toyota Center. With Hilton Koch, he had found this and was very happy to go ahead and make the deal.

Hilton Koch is the owner of the Houston based Hilton Furniture chain. He said that the ownership for him was once in a lifetime opportunity and he intended to take full advantage of it. By getting involved with the Houston Comets and WNBA, he wanted to give back something to the community.

Like most WNBA franchises, the Houston Comets have been struggling to attract fans and make money. In 2006, the Comets attracted an average of 7,682 fans in Toyota Center which can seat 18,300 fans. However, it was during 1998 and 2002, when the Comets had the largest fan following when they won all the titles. During that period, more than 10,000 fans attended their games in an average.

Koch is now looking for $4 million in corporate sponsorship for the Houston Comets. He also appealed to the fans to come for the games to show their support for the team. Comets are also in the process of looking for a new coach to take over the position of Van Chancellor who resigned on January 3, 2007.