Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is eyeing the next venture for himself and the ownership group of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current: a WNBA expansion team.
Mahomes, a part-owner of the Current, as well as MLB’s Kansas City Royals and MLS’ Sporting KC, made his pitch for bringing a WNBA team to the city Thursday.
“We want to get basketball to Kansas City in general and the WNBA and the success that they’ve had this last season and these last few seasons, it’s kind of 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 intends to expand to 16 teams by 2028. Its 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, Ore. — will debut in 2026.
The 16th team is still up for grabs. Mahomes’ wife Brittany was a founding owner 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 fit for the WNBA.
“They’re going into the playoffs now and you see the support that they have,” he said. “So let’s try to get a WNBA team in here as well and kind of that same-type ownership group. They’ve done the Current the right way and I want to continue to work with them to take that next step and get a WNBA team here.”
Co-owners Brittany and Patrick Mahomes walk on the field before the Current-Thorns match in March 2024. (Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
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 that were viable options for a potential 16th team. And just before those comments, Engelbert told The Athletic there was so much positive momentum around further expansion that the league decided to pause its search to reassess where it stands 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 increase. The Valkyries ownership group is paying a $50 million expansion fee to enter the WNBA, a five-fold increase from the $10 million buy-in for the Dream in 2008. And the WNBA is banking on another strong year next year to elevate the cost of entry even further. As a result, the WNBA appears to be in no rush to name who that group will be.
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Figures like Mahomes will continue to lobby for their respective markets, but having a Super Bowl-winning quarterback attached doesn’t necessarily leap-frog Kansas City to the front of the expansion line. Mahomes joins a growing list of figures looking to buy into 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 love to be a 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, like Nashville, Denver and Charlotte, are believed to be interested, too.
In Kansas City, the team would potentially already have a downtown arena available in the T-Mobile Center. That could be key, as the city is already dealing with the Chiefs’ push to potentially build a new stadium. The Chiefs set a self-imposed deadline for 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 2030 season.
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 then at the same time, showcase to my daughter that she can follow her dream and go out there and execute on whatever that dream is.”
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(Photo: Brooke Sutton / Getty Images)
