Cities are reportedly lining up a dozen deep for a chance at WNBA expansion

The WNBA is continuing its organic growth by the day. Every day more excitement looms for the league as it strives to bring even more fans in. For the 2025 WNBA season, the league will welcome its 13th franchise, the Golden State Valkyries. After setting a record for most-watched season in the league's history in 2024, this is only the beginning.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert expects the league to have 16 teams when the 2028 season tips off. The league is trending in a positive direction and achieving more success than it has ever experienced before. Because of this boom, cities are starting to take notice and getting in on future WNBA expansion talks.

Cities are lining up for a chance at a WNBA expansion team

The league is preparing to welcome more new teams within the next few years and there is already a number of different cities in the mix to receive a WNBA team. Kansas City is one of the latest cities to be connected to the WNBA as a possible expansion team.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, two-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany (formerly of the NWSL's KC Current) have met with the WNBA. According to Schefter's report, Mahomes called the decision to invest in a WNBA team in Kansas City a “no-brainer." Keep in mind that Mahomes has some ownership stock in both the Kansas City Royals and MLS club Sporting KC.

We've seen past and present NBA stars show a tremendous amount of support for the league, and recent NBA Champion Jayson Tatum from the Boston Celtics has thrown his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri into the mix as a possible WNBA expansion destination as well. Thanks to the latest NBA collective bargaining agreement from April 2023, players are allowed to own up to 4% of WNBA franchises. Tatum hasn't agreed to anything officially, but he has shown interest in the past about bringing some more hoops to his hometown city and he isn't alone.

"“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.""

- Don Soffer on bringing a team to STL

Other cities that have been rumored to have interest include Jacksonville, Milwaukee, Orlando (which formerly had the Orlando Miracle), Denver, Miami (used to have Miami Sol), and Nashville.

With the nostalgia factor that the NBA has, don't rule out some teams and cities from the early WNBA days trying to bring back teams as well — the Cleveland Rockers and Houston Comets are two teams that come to mind. We already have the Valkyries joining for the 2025 season, and Portland is getting a team for the 2026 season (we're not sure if the city will bring back the Portland Fire yet.)

This is an exciting time for the WNBA, and will get even more exciting as more teams join the league.