Courtesy of Jack Maloney, CBS Sports
The WNBA announced Wednesday it has awarded Portland, Oregon a new expansion franchise, which will begin play in the 2026 season. By then, the league will have 15 teams, with the Golden State Valkyries set to join next season and a yet unnamed Toronto franchise also arriving in 2026.
“As the WNBA builds on a season of unprecedented growth, bringing a team back to Portland is another important step forward,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert stated in a press release. “Portland has been an epicenter of the women’s sports movement and is home to a passionate community of basketball fans. Pairing this energy with the Bhathal family’s vision of leading top-flight professional sports teams will ensure that we deliver a premier WNBA team to the greater Portland area.”
The team, which does not have a name yet, will be owned by RAJ Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. The Bhathal family also owns the NWSL’s Portland Thorns and is an investor in the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.
“For decades, Portland has been the global epicenter of sports lifestyle and today, we are now the global epicenter of women’s sports,” Lisa Bhathal Merage said. “We believe in the transformative power of women’s sports and are thrilled that the W will call Portland home. We know that Portland’s vibrant and diverse communities will highly support and rally around this team. Our goal is to grow this organization in partnership with the Portland community and we look forward to supporting the best women’s basketball players in the world when they take the floor at the Moda Center in 2026.”
The Portland franchise will play their home games at the Moda Center, which is also home to the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers.
This is not the first time that the WNBA has come to Portland. The city previously had a team, the Portland Fire, from 2000-02, but it folded after just three seasons due to financial issues. It holds the ignominious record as the only franchise never to make the playoffs.
While the league has now announced three new franchises this year, its plans for expansion are not complete. Engelbert said previously she is “pretty confident” the league can grow to 16 teams by 2028. When that will happen, and where the 16th team will play, is still unclear, however.
While there is a lot of excitement for the future, the league is in a pretty good place right now. The 2024 rookie class has been a historic one with star players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese breaking multiple records. Meanwhile, Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson became the first player in WNBA history to score 1,000 points in a season.
The 2024 regular season will end Thursday and the playoffs start Sunday.
