Jayson Tatum’s St. Louis WNBA push has stiff competition

In the weeks since a Sportico report named Tatum as one of the faces of a quiet (so far) St. Louis effort to earn a WNBA expansion team, the list of cities throwing their names into the mix continues to grow beyond what league commissioner Cathy Engelbert described during the WNBA Finals as a 10-team list of hopefuls.

Cleveland stepped forward last week, joining Kansas City, Philadelphia, Austin, and others that want to become the growing league’s 16th team after Golden State, Portland, and Toronto are coming onboarded through the next two seasons.

Tatum, St. Louis University donor Richard Chaifetz, and developer David Hoffmann are the unofficial team captains of an STL effort that has, for the most part, stayed pretty quiet about plans since news of the effort leaked out.

I’m also not ignorant about what is stacked up against St. Louis when it comes to this quest.

Not already having an NBA team probably hurts. Not being nationally viewed as a growing, thriving city like some of the WNBA expansion competitors probably hurts. And as much as I hate to say it, losing the Rams to Los Angeles less than a decade ago probably hurts. Probably more than it should. Unfortunately. Especially when compared to Kansas City and the NFL buzz Patrick Mahomes creates as a part of that potential ownership group there.

But there’s a lot of good, too, and it’s fantastic that Tatum is stepping forward to put his face and name at the forefront of the attempt to get the league to look at what St. Louis could bring to the table. If the WNBA really looks, it will see a lot to like.

This effort should suggest the WNBA borrows a play from Major League Soccer. MLS believed for decades a team here could work. But the league since has been blown away by the STL support, whether it’s measured through attendance at games, online engagement, merchandise sales, or conversion numbers for Apple TV’s MLS package.

An independent economic impact study commissioned by the team and Greater St. Louis Inc., discovered that in 2023 the stadium hosted nearly one million visits, with the bulk of those coming from inside the metro area. St. Louis supports teams and leagues that want to be here, period. The NFL misrepresented the relationship between St. Louis and sports, and leagues that see through the spin will be rewarded. MLS was the first to cash in. No one said it had to be the last.

How about outstanding sports support in general?

The Cardinals’ announced attendance for the 2024 season just ranked seventh in Major League Baseball despite the team missing the postseason for the fifth time in the last nine tries.

The Blues this season are netting an announced attendance of 95-plus percent capacity despite having, as of today, a less than 6 percent chance to make the postseason, per MoneyPuck’s playoff projections.

In 2024 the United Football League’s Battlehawks averaged 34,365 per home game at The Dome, which was 20,000 more than the second-highest team. The league quickly moved its championship game to St. Louis as a result.

Sports fans here cram into development league City2 games, pack thousands in for SLU soccer games (men’s and women’s) at Hermann Stadium and rush to support even one-off events. Women’s gymnastics has set attendance highs here for Olympic trials. The PGA Tour has been floored by fan turnout. UFC, too. It would be the same with WNBA. There should be no doubt about that.

Now, a question for the WNBA. Why should a city get a second WNBA shot before St. Louis gets its first one? That seems like a fair question worth asking when comparing STL to, say, Cleveland, which once had a team that folded, citing low attendance as the key reason. Without the WNBA, St. Louis didn’t sit around and wait. It started its team. The St. Louis Surge should be highlighted. The women’s basketball team that plays in the Global Women’s Basketball Association won two national championships and seven regional ones while playing in the Women’s Blue-Chip Basketball League.

Chaifetz Arena should be viewed as a real strength, too. It’s one of the better atmospheres around when the crowd is full and lively, like it would be for WNBA games. Average WNBA attendance in 2024 was just less than 10,000. Chaifetz can cram in nearly 11,000. Not too big. Not too small — unless Caitlin Clark is playing, which makes any venue too small.

St. Louis has been positively affected by the Clark catalyst, by the way. The region could regularly be found among the nation’s top-10 in viewership during Clark’s milestone moments. She sometimes even captured more eyeballs than the local teams’ televised games.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If you plant your sports flag in St. Louis, you will be rewarded. The WNBA should dig deep on what St. Louis could offer. Hopefully Tatum and his team get a fair shot.