Sports

Houston Rockets To Be Sold For Record NBA Franchise Price

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Font Size:

Houston Rockets owner, Leslie Alexander decided in July that he wanted to sell his NBA team. After news of the sale broke not even two months ago, it looks like the Rockets have a buyer.

Tilman Fertitta, the chairman and CEO of Landry’s Inc. restaurant corporations, will buy the team for $2.2 billion, a record NBA franchise price. The previous record was $2 billion when Steve Ballmer bought the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014.

Fertitta had attempted to purchase the Rockets in 1993, but was ultimately beat out by Alexander. In 1993 Fertitta was trying to buy the Rockets for only $81 million and the team decided to sell to Alexander for $85 million, according to CBS Sports.

Fertitta is a Texas native and has had court side seats to Rockets games for years. The team also gave a statement on the timing of this announcement since it comes right after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. In the statement, the Rockets said, “it is truly unfortunate that this announcement is occurring amidst the aftermath of one of the biggest tragedies in the history of our great City,” according to ESPN.

The NBA board of governors will have to approve this before the deal can be made official.