Portland Awarded 15th WNBA Franchise, to Begin Play in 2026

An official WNBA basketball shown during the league finals between the Phoenix Mercury and Chicago Sky in Phoenix on Oct 10, 2021. Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY via Field Level Media

In a season that’s seen record television ratings and a historic media deal, the WNBA continues to leverage its positive momentum when it made a huge announcement on Wednesday awarding the city of Portland, Oregon,  a franchise that is set to begin play in the 2026 WNBA season.

The unnamed Portland team will be the 15^th WNBA franchise, joining the 12 currently competing, as well as the previously announced expansion franchises in the Golden State Valkyries and a Toronto team. Golden State will begin play in 2025, with Toronto joining Portland in the league in 2026. The Portland team will be owned and operated by RAJ Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal.

RAJ Sports was part of the investment group, led by Vivek Ranadive, that purchased the Sacramento Kings in 2013, which also included ownership of the Stockton Kings of the G-League and the Sacramento River Cats in Minor League Baseball. Currently, RAJ Sports owns one of the three major sports franchises already in play in Portland, in the Portland Thorns of the NWSL.

“As the WNBA builds on a season of unprecedented growth, bringing a team back to Portland is another important step forward,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

“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.”

As Engelbert mentioned, Portland previously had a WNBA franchise as the Portland Fire operated from 2000 to 2002. It never had a winning record in any of those three seasons and is the only current or former WNBA franchise to never make the postseason. The WNBA owned the Fire, and when the league moved from central ownership to individual owners in 2002, the Fire ceased operations. This will be the first time the WNBA returns to a city it previously left.

The Fire name is still possible for this new Portland franchise, but the official name will be announced later. What has been established is that the team will play its home games at the Moda Center in downtown Portland. The arena is also home to the Portland Trail Blazers, making the Moda Center the sixth venue to be home to both a current NBA team and WNBA team.

During the official announcement ceremony in the Rose Quarter, the franchise’s co-owner and alternate governor, Alex Bhathal, praised the city for providing the type of local support that made the WNBA receptive to bringing a team back to Portland.

“Portland has already established itself as a leader in women’s sports with the success of the Thorns and the unwavering support of the community. With our new WNBA team, it will write the next chapter in this story. We are so excited to write this chapter together with all of you,” said Bhathal.

He also issued a challenge to Portlanders in anticipation of the team’s 2026 tipoff, with hopes of filling up the Moda Center, which has a capacity of 19,393.

“I’ll leave you with a challenge for our community,” said Bhathal. “We will begin play in 2026, so let’s show the world that Portland is here to support the WNBA by gathering 20,000 season ticket deposits before we tip off in 2026. 20,000 in 2026, that sounds pretty good. So, let’s go do it together.”

However, the WNBA Portland team may be looking for a temporary home after its inaugural season as the Trail Blazers, who operate the Moda Center, have planned renovations spanning their offseasons from 2027 to 2029 in anticipation of hosting the 2030 NCAA Women’s Final Four. The NBA offseason is when the WNBA season takes place, so the WNBA Portland franchise will be displaced out of the Moda Center for at least two years.

This rapid growth by the WNBA comes during a 17-year spell in which the league added no new teams. The last franchise to join the league was the Atlanta Dream for the 2008 WNBA season, but that was also the final season of the now-defunct Houston Comets. The Sacramento Monarchs would then cease operations in 2009, leaving the WNBA with its current 12 franchises.

Even with these three new teams on the horizon, the WNBA isn’t just stopping there. Back in April, Engelbert stated that her goal is to expand the league to 16 franchises by 2028. The league is now just one away from that goal, and Engelbert also threw out several markets in which there is mutual interest, including Philadelphia, Denver, Nashville, and South Florida. The first three would all be new markets for WNBA franchises, while the league has had two teams in Florida. The Miami Sol operated at the same time as the Portland Fire (2000-02) before folding, while the Orlando Miracle ran from 1999-02 before relocating in 2003 to become the Connecticut Sun.