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WNBA Announces New Expansion Team In Portland For 2026 Season
By Marc Griffin,
8 days ago
The WNBA is expanding to 15 teams for the 2026 season with a franchise based in Portland, Oregon. ESPN reports that The W is returning to Portland 24 years after the city’s team, the Fire, ceased operations in the league. The team will be owned by RAJ Sports, which is led by siblings Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage, who are also majority owners of the Portland Thorns from the NWSL.
As of September 2024, this move marks the first time that the women-focused league would be returning to a city from which they previously departed.
The announcement arrives almost a year to the date that Cathy Engelbert, the WNBA commissioner, penned a letter deferring to expanding operations to Oregon. However, Engelbert explained the league’s expansion process during a conversation with ESPN , saying, “I don’t think we ever have a bias as to whether there was a team there before or not, 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.”
Alex Bhathal detailed how they pursued getting the WNBA to sign off on their idea for a team based in The City of Roses. Bhathal explained that doing business to acquire the Thorns inspired them to work towards returning The W to Oregon.
Jackie Stiles #10, Guard for the Portland Fire in motion dribbling the basketball down court around Sonja Henning #34, Guard for the Seattle Storm during the WNBA Western Conference basketball game against the Portland Fire on 20th July 2001 at the Key Arena at Seattle Center in Seattle, Washington, United States. The Portland Fire won the game 56 – 49.
“We became very convinced that the Portland market was a great market for sports in general and women’s sports,” Alex Bhathal said. “Having seen the media reports that the WNBA opportunity was something the WNBA wanted to do, but there were some issues with the timing and potentially finding the right ownership group, it became an ‘aha’ moment that maybe this is something that we could do as well and create a multisport platform in the market and really cement Portland as the epicenter for women’s sports.”
As for whether or not the Portland ladies would don their original Fire name, Bhathal Merage played it coy, telling the outlet, “Everything is on the table.”
29 Jun 2001: Head Coach Linda Hargrave of the Portland Fire watches from the sidelines during the WNBA game against the Miami Sol at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The Fire defeated the Sol 74-72.
Meanwhile, Engelbert is continuing her search for the inevitable 16th franchise for the WNBA as the league continues to grow . The commissioner asserts they’re on track to add the next team “in either 2027 or 2028.” “We’ll look very hard at what Team 16 might look like,” she said. “But on track for no later than ’28 for Team 16.”
Previously, the WNBA announced they’re adding two expansion teams with the Golden State Valkyries and an unnamed Toronto team. The Valkyries will begin play in the 2025/26 WNBA season, while the Canadian squad will join the league alongside Portland in 2026.
29 Jun 2001: Sylvia Crawley #00 of the Portland Fire looking on during the WNBA game against the Miami Sol at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. The Fire defeated the Sol 74-72.
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