Buccaneers’ Mike Evans Says He’d Be Interested in Owning WNBA Team

AP Photo/Alex Menendez

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans has an idea to bring the Houston Comets back to the WNBA. 

Responding to a tweet by The GIST USA asking fans where they would like to see a new team for the league, Evans said to bring the Comets back and that he would be interested in being a team owner. 

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters last week the league is looking to add two expansion clubs in response to players pushing to expand roster sizes after several high-profile veterans were cut by teams. 

“We’re transforming the economics of the league,” Engelbert said. “We want to bring new owners into the league longer term. We need to find the right time to do that. We’re doing a lot of data analysis. … We’ll continue to do that analysis and hopefully this summer at some point we’ll be able to say more. But we want to be thoughtful about it.”

Seattle Storm star Breanna Stewart spoke about her frustration with the limited number of roster spots allowed on each team. 

“Stop saying we’re a league of 144 [players],” Stewart said, per Percy Allen of the Seattle Times. “It’s not true. Not anymore. If you look around at how many teams have to carry 11 versus 12, it’s probably like high 130s or 140. But it’s certainly not 144. So we can’t keep talking like we have all these players when we don’t.”

The Comets were the most dominant franchise in the WNBA when the league launched in 1997. They won each of the first four league championships from 1997 to 2000. Cynthia Cooper (1997, 1998) and Sheryl Swoopes (2000, 2002) won four MVP awards for the franchise in the league’s first six seasons. 

After Leslie Alexander sold the franchise to Hilton Koch in 2007, the Comets’ business operations almost immediately fell apart. The league took control of the team in the summer of 2008. 

In December 2008, then-WNBA President Donna Orender announced the Comets franchise was being disbanded because the league couldn’t find new owners. 

Evans was born in Galveston, Texas, and attended high school in the city. He went to college at Texas A&M from 2011 to ’13 before being selected No. 7 overall by the Bucs in the 2014 NFL draft. 

It’s unclear if the WNBA would consider going back to Houston, but the exploding popularity of the league could make it a viable option. Based on Evans’ comment, it’s possible an investor would want to help set up a franchise in the city.