Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is looking forward to the next venture for himself and the NWSL’s Kansas City Current ownership group: a WNBA expansion team.
Mahomes, co-owner of the Current as well as MLB’s Kansas City Royals and MLS’ Sporting KC, made his pitch Thursday for bringing a WNBA team to town.
“We want to bring basketball to Kansas City in general and the WNBA. Given the success they had last season and the last few seasons, it’s a no-brainer to try to get a WNBA team in Kansas City. ” he said.
Mahomes’ comments come amid a wave of growth for the WNBA, which plans to expand to 16 teams by 2028. The 13th team, the Golden State Valkyries, will debut in 2025 as the first WNBA expansion team since the Atlanta Dream in 2008. The 14th and 15th teams – in Toronto and Portland, Oregon – will debut in 2026.
The 16th team is still up for grabs. Mahomes’ wife, Brittany, was a founding member of the Current, and Mahomes joined the ownership group in 2023. He pointed to the Current’s success as a reason why Kansas City is a good fit for the WNBA.
“They’re going into the play-offs now and you can see the support they have,” he said. “So let’s try to get a WNBA team in here as well and some kind of similar ownership group. They did the Current the right way and I want to continue working with them to take that next step and get a WNBA team here.
The list for the WNBA’s next expansion franchise is long. At her annual WNBA Finals news conference, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said there were 10 to 12 cities as viable options for a potential 16th team. And just before these comments, Engelbert shared that there was so much positive momentum around further expansion that the league decided to pause its search to reassess where it is now and hire an investment banker to run it.
The possible price tag of what it will cost the next expansion ownership group to get into the league continues to rise. The Valkyries ownership group is paying a $50 million expansion fee to join the WNBA, a fivefold increase over the $10 million buy-in for the Dream in 2008. And the WNBA is banking on another strong season next year to offset costs of the Dream to increase. come in even further. As a result, the WNBA appears to be in no rush to name who that group will be.
Figures like Mahomes will continue to lobby for their respective markets, but having a Super Bowl-winning quarterback doesn’t necessarily put Kansas City at the front of the expansion line. Mahomes joins a growing list of figures looking to join the WNBA.
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is reportedly backing a bid for his native St. Louis to get a team. Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell said he would like to be part of an ownership group in Cleveland if it could bring a franchise back to the city (the Cleveland Rockers were an original WNBA franchise). Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta is trying to get a team back in Houston. Other cities, such as Nashville, Denver and Charlotte, are also said to be interested.
In Kansas City, the team may already have a downtown arena available at the T-Mobile Center. That could be crucial as the city is already dealing with pressure from the Chiefs to potentially build a new stadium. The Chiefs have set themselves a deadline of the end of the season to decide on a stadium and whether they will play in Kansas City, Mo., or Kansas City, Kan., when the team’s lease at Arrowhead Stadium ends after the season 2030 expires. .
Mahomes, the three-time Super Bowl champion, called Kansas City “home” and said his investments in franchises will help him “still be a part” of the Kansas City sports scene when he retires from the NFL.
“And now hopefully we get this WNBA team here,” he said. “It’s for life after football, so I can still make an impact in all sports. And at the same time showing my daughter that she can follow her dream and go out and fulfill whatever that dream is.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Kansas City Chiefs, NFL, WNBA, Sports Business
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