The WNBA is headed back to Portland, Oregon. The newly announced team is the league’s 15th franchise and will begin play in 2026.
Professional women’s basketball is back in Portland, Oregon after more than two decades. The WNBA announced Wednesday it awarded the city an expansion team that will begin play in 2026, the same season as the Toronto team announced in May 2024.
Portland is the third team added to the WNBA in this round of expansion, bringing the league to 15 total teams. In addition to the Toronto team, the Golden State Valkyries will tip off in 2025. Before the Golden State expansion last year, the WNBA had not added a new team since 2008.Team Will Share Home Arena With Trailblazers
The newly announced Portland team will play at the Moda Center, also home to the Portland Trailblazers. The team will be owned and operated by RAJ Sports, headed by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. The Bhathal family are also the controlling owners of the NWSL’s Portland Thorns and investors in the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. Lisa Bhathal Merage will serve as the controlling owner and WNBA governor with Alex Bhathal as Alternate Governor.
“For decades, Portland has been the global epicenter of sports lifestyle and today, we are not the global epicenter of women’s sports,” Lisa Bhatel Merage said in a statement.
