In May 2023, Jayson Tatum made his first venture into team ownership, becoming a part-owner of the Los Angeles Mad Drops, a Major League Pickleball team. The ownership group he was joining? It featured Super Bowl champion Drew Brees, too! Fast forward a year and a half, Tatum is looking to make another venture into ownership. But this time, instead of teaming up with a Super Bowl champion, he’ll be going up against one.

Tatum is already a superhero in Boston. After bringing the championship to the city, the Celtics star is working toward shifting eyes to his hometown, St. Louis. But the path to achieving that will likely include going toe-to-toe with a billionaire group-backed NFL star, namely, Patrick Mahomes. But Tatum has some backing in his corner, too, and is ready to take the fight to the bidding table. But what’s on the line for him and the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback? A 16th WNBA team.

In April this year, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert hinted at a 16th WNBA team, saying she’s “pretty confident” about it happening by 2028. Currently, the WNBA has 12 teams, but the league has already added three expansion teams – the Golden State Valkyries (joining in 2025), Toronto, and Portland (both joining in 2026). “Just a few years ago, we were surviving; now we’re going from survive to thrive,” Engelbert said. And with household names like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese having joined the WNBA this season, the league’s popularity has skyrocketed.

According to Sportico’s Jacob Feldman, “Tatum has informally agreed to invest in the team should it come to fruition.” But for that to happen, the Celtics star and the ownership group will have to outbid many others. With cities like Denver, Philadelphia, and Miami having shown interest in becoming the home to WNBA’s 16th team, Feldman reported, “More than a dozen candidates are expected, with some predicting that the ultimate winner could pay more than $200 million for the slot.”

One of them is Kansas City.

On October 30, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported, “As WNBA expansion continues, ownership of the NWSL’s KC Current — which includes Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany — has met with the WNBA and is in contention to bring the league’s next franchise to Kansas City.” Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, are already proud part-owners of Kansas City Current, having joined the NWSL team’s ownership group in January 2023. In March this year, the power couple even inaugurated the Current’s new stadium, which has bore witness to packed crowds ever since.

The Mahomes and the ownership group they’re a part of are clearly doing something right, which is why the Chiefs quarterback is so keen to continue working with them on a WNBA franchise. “We want to get basketball to Kansas City in general and then WNBA. The success that they’ve had this last season and these last few seasons, it’s kind of a no-brainer,” he said. Besides the Current, Patrick Mahomes is also a part-owner for the MLB team, KC Royals, and MLS side Sporting KC. With his enriched portfolio of sporting teams, the potential expansion team can add another feather to the three-time NFL champ’s cap.

As for Jayson Tatum, he will be part of an ownership group co-led by billionaires Richard Chaifetz and David Hoffman. If this does work out for him, Tatum will become the first active NBA player to have an ownership stake in a WNBA franchise. This was made possible thanks to the newly implemented Collective Bargaining Agreement, which allows NBA players to own up to 4% of WNBA franchises.

The 26-year-old, who currently earns through his multiple endorsement deals and has a $315 million contract with the Celtics, will see his purse getting heftier next season when the NBA’s new TV deal kicks in. So the competition can easily go to the wire in the bidding procedure, and we might as well have some overtime to decide the final winner. That said…

What do St. Louis and Kansas City have to offer?

“St. Louis is a top-tier sports market, and we believe that bringing a WNBA franchise to the region will be a defining moment in the city’s ongoing revitalization,” spokesperson Don Soffer said. It would also mean a whole lot to Jayson Tatum, considering St. Louis is his hometown. But it would also make him the first active NBA player to become a part-owner of a WNBA team. Interestingly, though, Damian Lillard was rumored to have gotten that title before Tatum.

With Portland joining the WNBA fray in 2026, the Bucks player was loosely rumored to be a potential owner of the franchise. However, that theory was quashed by the guard himself. Tatum’s case is not speculation, though. The Celtics star wants the WNBA to come to St. Louis, but the competition is already looking steep.

Apart from the other big cities that have shown interest, Kansas City already has the infrastructure to support a WNBA franchise. In 2007, KC built the T-Mobile Center, hoping to lure NBA and NHL teams. However, that never materialized, but the stadium is being used for basketball – more specifically, the NCAA Big 12 tournaments in March. What did Mahomes say about the place?

“Kansas City is such a great place for me. It’s a place that I call home. It’s a place that I built a house at and that I’ll be in for a long, long time,” he said. “I know how much the city loves sports, so let’s bring as many sports in here and showcase how great Kansas City is not only as a city but the people that are in the city as well. We feel like Kansas City is a great place to continue that growth, but we have to battle with other cities to prove why we can sustain and have a great franchise here.”

So, what do you think? Who among the two will win the bidding battle for WNBA’s 16th team? Or will it bee someone else altogether?