Patrick Mahomes’ Next Challenge Has Nothing to Do With Football

Patrick Mahomes speaks onstage during the 2024 TIME100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on April 25, 2024. Cindy Ord/Getty Images for TIME

As a three-time Super Bowl champion—winning MVP honors in each—and a two-time regular season MVP, Patrick Mahomes has seemingly already done everything there is to do in the NFL at just 29 years old. Perhaps that’s a small part of his motivation for attempting to do something out of the NFL, and that’s by helping Kansas City land a WNBA franchise.

Mahomes, along with his wife, Brittany, are part of the ownership group of the Kansas City Current in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the premier women’s soccer league in the United States. The Current’s ownership group recently met with the WNBA to discuss efforts to land a team in the Kansas City Metro.

Mahomes spoke about what a WNBA team in Kansas City would mean on Thursday after practice.

“We want to get basketball to Kansas City in general. And then the WNBA, the success that they’ve had this last season and these last few seasons, it’s kind of a no-brainer,'' Mahomes told reporters.

“To try to get a WNBA team in Kansas City to this fan base—you see it if you talk about University of Kansas basketball, the Chiefs, or whatever it is—the city of Kansas City is going to come out, and they’re going to fill the stadium,” he said.

“It was cool that we were able to get this soccer team, this women’s soccer team here in the Current, and they’re going into the playoffs now, and you see the support that they have. So, let’s try to get a WNBA team in here as well [with] that same type of 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.”

Kansas City, neither the one in Kansas nor Missouri, has ever had a WNBA franchise, but it has had an NBA franchise. The Sacramento Kings franchise split games between Kansas City and Omaha, Nebraska, from 1972-75 after relocating from Cincinnati. After three seasons of being known as the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, they then exclusively played in Kansas City for the next decade and were known as the Kansas City Kings from 1975-85. They would then relocate to Sacramento, where they’ve remained since 1985.

WNBA Expansion

Mahomes and the Current’s principal owners are certainly striking while the iron is hot in terms of WNBA expansion. The recently completed 2024 WNBA season had 12 teams, but the Golden State Valkyries begin playing next year, followed by franchises starting in Toronto and Portland in 2026, pushing the league to 15 teams.

The quarterback mentioned the support Kansas Jayhawks get, and that undoubtedly is a strong selling point, as the city already has a ready-made venue to potentially host a pro-basketball team. The T-Mobile Arena is adjacent to the Power & Light District in downtown Kansas City and annually hosts the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament each spring. It is also just a 10-minute drive from Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Chiefs, and Kauffman Stadium, which houses the Kansas City Royals.

Speaking of the Royals, Mahomes also owns a piece of that team, as well as Sporting KC of Major League Soccer. So, he’s fully invested in a city that has also fully embraced him. With his latest ownership venture with the WNBA, he was asked how far he sees his capacity as a pro sports owner extending in the future.

“I just know how much sports has given to me,'' Mahomes responded. “Whenever I’m done playing football—whenever that is—and I have to venture off into life after football and chasing kids around and everything like that, I want to be able to still be a part of it.

“Obviously, it started early with the Royals, then Sporting, then the Current, and now we can hopefully get this WNBA team here. 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.”

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said she hopes to add a 16^th WNBA franchise by 2028. However, Kansas City would have competition if Mahomes gets his wish with his adopted hometown being considered for a new franchise, as Engelbert revealed there’s mutual interest between the league and other markets such as Denver, Nashville, Philadelphia, and South Florida.

Perhaps St. Louis could be thrown into the mix if another reigning champion in a different sport has his wish—Jayson Tatum of the NBA champion Boston Celtics is reportedly also working behind the scenes to bring a WNBA franchise to his hometown. With St. Louis in eastern Missouri and Kansas City in western Missouri, there could be a bidding war from the Show Me State for the next WNBA franchise.