Portland Welcomes WNBA Expansion Team, Set to Debut in 2026 | Sports

Less than 11 months after WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert wrote in a letter that consideration of a Portland growth crew can be “deferred for now,” the league introduced Wednesday a return to the town as its fifteenth franchise, to start play in the 2026 season.

Portland beforehand entered the WNBA because the growth Fire in 2000 earlier than folding after the 2002 season, when the league moved from central possession to particular person possession of groups.

The new crew shall be owned and operated by RAJ Sports, led by controlling proprietor Lisa Bhathal Merage and her brother, Alex Bhathal. They are also the bulk homeowners of the NWSL's Portland Thorns.

This is the primary time the WNBA will return to a metropolis it beforehand left, though Engelbert expressed an openness to achieve this once more in the longer term.

“I don't think we ever have a bias as to whether there was a team there before or not,” Engelbert instructed ESPN, “but certainly I think Portland has proven they'll show up for women's sports and definitely for women's basketball, so we're excited to be coming back to the market.”

Engelbert's letter in November was addressed to Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a champion of ladies's sports activities who had been working intently with the bid and hosted the commissioner on the nation's first sports activities bar devoted solely to girls's sports activities, the Sports Bra, throughout a website go to to Portland final 12 months.

Wyden had described the response to that information, which got here after he had his bag packed for an anticipated announcement that Portland would rejoin the WNBA in 2025 alongside the Golden State Valkyries, as “72 hours of really bitter disappointment.”

“After 72 hours, we said, ‘Back on our feet, we're going to get this done,'” Wyden instructed ESPN. “It really was a constant building and a process from then. I am particularly appreciative of Cathy because she's got me calling her, saying, ‘What's next, what should we do, what's the path? We don't want to give up.'

“Cathy introduced a mixture of cheerleading, which is vital, with the form of nuts and bolts. I'm not going to get into it, however I'm so appreciative of Alex and Lisa working via a number of the stuff that actually took us down the primary time. Cathy went via a few of that in the letter that she despatched, the very gracious letter, making it clear she needed us to maintain going.”

First, the WNBA needed to find a new Portland ownership group. Enter the Bhathal family, which already had been evaluating the area closely in preparation for its purchase of the Thorns.

“As we had been pursuing the Thorns, we turned very satisfied that the Portland market was an important marketplace for sports activities in normal and ladies's sports activities,” Alex Bhathal told ESPN. “Having seen the media experiences that the WNBA alternative was one thing the WNBA needed to do, however there have been some points with the timing and probably discovering the precise possession group, it turned an ‘aha' second that perhaps that is one thing that we might do as effectively and create a multisport platform in the market and actually cement Portland because the epicenter for ladies's sports activities.”

From its end, the WNBA remained committed to Portland as a destination, even as another expansion franchise was awarded to Toronto in May.

“As I began to study extra about Alex and Lisa and their platform for ladies's sports activities,” Engelbert told ESPN, “it wasn't introduced but on their Thorns possession, nevertheless it appeared fairly fascinating as a result of we knew primarily based on our information evaluation, the info would present Portland can be an important marketplace for the W.”

The Thorns have been a flagship franchise for the NWSL, winning three championships and leading the league in attendance before the arrival of expansion franchises in Los Angeles and San Diego. Portland now ranks third behind those teams, averaging more than 18,000 fans per game this season.

“I believe Portland has confirmed they will present up for ladies's sports activities and positively for ladies's basketball, so we're excited to be coming again to the market.”

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, on the league's return to Portland

Women's school basketball additionally has drawn effectively in Portland, which hosted a regional in this 12 months's NCAA event and can convey the Final Four to the Moda Center for the primary time in 2030.

“My guess,” Wyden mentioned jokingly, “is it won't be very long before people start calling it ‘Sportslandia.'”

The timeline of the Final Four was one of many issues to WNBA growth. The NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, who function the Moda Center, anticipate two summers' value of renovations to the world between the arrival of the WNBA crew and the internet hosting of the Final Four. That work would drive the growth crew to relocate, probably subsequent door to the Trail Blazers' former dwelling at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, though not till after it performs at the very least its first season on the Moda Center.

“The timeline is being determined at this point, and those are still subject to negotiations,” Alex Bhathal mentioned. “Our expectation is we'll be playing at the Moda Center. There could be a situation where we play on a temporary basis at somewhere else, the VMC, but because of the indeterminate nature of those negotiations, our base case is we'll be playing in Moda Center for the visible future.”

The Fire performed on the Moda Center throughout their three WNBA seasons. Despite by no means making the playoffs, the Fire had a better common attendance in their last 12 months (2002) than six different groups, together with two present ones: the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm. Portland additionally performed host to a girls's franchise in the short-lived American Basketball League, the Power, who performed at Memorial Coliseum.

Still to be decided is whether or not the growth crew will reclaim the Fire title or select a brand new one. Bhathal Merage mentioned “everything is on the table” and that the choice shall be primarily based on group enter.

“It's an exciting time,” she mentioned. “It's fun to be able to create a new team from scratch. Our hope is by the spring we'll have an announcement, but we do of course have deadlines if we want to have more customized jerseys with Nike and things like that.”

Another upcoming announcement will contain a observe facility for the WNBA crew, which was a key element of the league's analysis of potential growth websites. Three groups now have their very own unique amenities, with the Storm and Phoenix Mercury each opening them this season after the Las Vegas Aces did final 12 months. Two franchises that do not share observe amenities with NBA counterparts, the Chicago Sky and Dallas Wings, have introduced plans to construct them.

“Plans are coming together, but that will be a follow-up announcement,” Alex Bhathal mentioned. “We will be investing in a training center for the WNBA as well as the Thorns. Those are commitments that we have made. They'll be first-class, state-of-the-art facilities.”

Portland has barely extra time to put together for its first season than the Valkyries, who had been launched as an growth franchise in October and can start play in 2025. The Toronto crew, which is able to enter the league alongside Portland in 2026, has extra lead time after a May announcement.

Engelbert mentioned the WNBA is “on track” to add a sixteenth franchise in both 2027 or 2028.

“We'll look very hard at what Team 16 might look like,” she mentioned, “but on track for no later than '28 for Team 16.”

Thus far, Golden State's launch has set the bar for growth groups. Last week, the Valkyries introduced that they've secured a document 17,000-plus season ticket deposits, probably the most ever for a girls's skilled sports activities crew. Bhathal Merage mentioned that information spurred a flurry of emails among the many Portland growth group.

“Our goal is to surpass that number, and we think we can do it in Portland,” she mentioned. “We have the most passionate, vibrant community of supporters for women's sports really anywhere in the world.

“We assume 20,000 deposits for the 2026 season sounds fairly good.”