What to know about the Patrick Mahomes and Jayson Tatum WNBA rumors – Deseret News

The WNBA is coming off a record year and is looking for its next expansion market, with at least two sports stars looking to get involved.

Patrick Mahomes and Jayson Tatum are reportedly interested in bringing the WNBA to their cities.

When will the WNBA expand?

The WNBA currently has 12 teams, but next season it will have 13 teams with the Golden State Valkyries, and in 2026 – 15 teams with teams from Toronto and Portland – as previously reported News from the desert.

“The growth and demand for the WNBA led us to expand.” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in April before the WNBA draft. “Women’s basketball is not a passing fad. We have been steadily building this momentum for years and we are ready for what comes next.”

Engelbert said she is “confident” the WNBA will expand to 16 teams by 2028.

This 16th market has not yet been announced. This is the one Mahomes and Tatum are fighting for.

The addition of the four teams will increase WNBA roster spots by 30%, adding a total of 48 to the 144 roster spots the league currently has.

Does Patrick Mahomes want to buy a WNBA expansion team?

The ownership group of Kansas City-based NWSL team KC Current, which includes Mahomes and his wife, has “met with the WNBA” and they are “disputing” about bringing the team to Kansas City, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Wednesday.

Mahomes was the first active NFL player to invest in an NWSL team Current.

“We want to bring basketball to Kansas City and then to the WNBA. The success they had last season and the last few seasons is obvious,” Mahomes said Thursday during his media appearance.

Mahomes believes the success of the Current ownership group makes them the right group to bring the team to Kansas City.

“It was cool that we were able to get this soccer team, this women’s soccer team here at Current, and they’re now in the playoffs and you can see the support they have. So let’s try to put a WNBA team (with) the same ownership group in there as well. They handled Current the right way and I want to continue to work with them to take the next step and get a WNBA team here,” Mahomes said, per ESPN.

Does Jayson Tatum want to be involved with a WNBA expansion team?

Tatum is also considering playing for a WNBA expansion team, but not in Boston, where he plays for the Celtics.

He was linked to an offer in his hometown of St. Louis.

The reigning NBA champion has “informally agreed to invest in the team if it comes to fruition and provide behind-the-scenes input into the group’s play, both to other potential high-profile investors and the league itself.” Sportico reported.

Tatum’s potential involvement is made possible thanks to the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement that was ratified last year. The CBA allows NBA players to own up to 4% of a WNBA team.

St. Louis is no stranger to professional basketball. The city was the home of the NBA team St. Louis Bombers in 1949–1950 and St. Louis Hawks from 1955 to 1968. It is also currently the home of the St. Paul’s professional women’s basketball team. Louis Surge.