Donnie Wahlberg and Michael Carter-Williams want to bring a WNBA expansion team to Boston

“Boston is taking a significant step closer to a WNBA team, as word came Tuesday that an ownership group led by actor/singer Donnie Wahlberg and former NBA player and Hamilton native Michael Carter-Williams is planning to prepare an offer for an expansion team.

Mayor Michelle Wu and Governor Maura Healey also have offered support. The WNBA is in an expansion flurry, with teams in San Francisco (Golden State), Portland, and Toronto beginning play in the next two years. Front Office Sports reported Cleveland will be the league’s 16th team in 2028.

TD Garden hosted a WNBA game last August featuring the Connecticut Sun and Los Angeles Sparks, and it drew a capacity crowd. The Sun are playing again at the Garden in August against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. Several Sun players said they would prefer to play more games in Boston and the enthusiasm for last year’s game appeared to spark interest in bringing the WNBA here permanently.

The Wahlberg/Carter-Williams group, named Boston Women’s Basketball Partners, would have to officially apply for a team and then be approved by the league’s owners, as well as pay an expansion fee. The Portland franchise paid a $125 million expansion free, while Front Office Sports reported the Cleveland group paid a record $250 million.

“As a longtime Boston Celtics fan who attended countless NBA games in my lifetime, nothing would bring me more joy than to have a WNBA franchise in the city of Boston,” Wahlberg said in an email to the Globe. “I look forward to the day I can walk into the Garden, along with thousands of the greatest (and most knowledgeable) basketball fans on the planet, to root for Boston’s hometown WNBA team.”

Wu released a statement to the Globe.

“As the city of champions, Boston is the hub for sports fans, and we would be delighted to host a trailblazing WNBA team,” the statement read. “The introduction of a women’s team would expand opportunities for young basketball players in our city and we look forward to learning more about what we could accomplish together.”

It is uncertain how much the WNBA wants to expand beyond 16 teams, but there is a list of other interested cities, such as Detroit, Philadelphia, Nashville, and Charlotte.

Other members of Boston Women’s Basketball Partners include former Salem State player Mandy Carter-Zegarowski, media executive AJ Gerritson, real estate developer Paul Dahn, financial adviser Bob Lemmond, and lobbyist Gregg Nolan.”