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Portland Fire
Women's National Basketball Association team in Portland, Oregon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Portland Fire are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The team will compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference; it is scheduled to begin play in 2026. The team will play its home games at Moda Center. The franchise will be the second WNBA team in the city's history, following the original Portland Fire in the early 2000s.
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The Portland Fire was the name of Portland's first venture with the WNBA. The team played from 2000 until 2002 when they folded.[4] In February 2023, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert visited Portland for an event at The Sports Bra[5] co-hosted by US senator Ron Wyden, along with personnel from the Portland Trail Blazers, Portland Thorns FC, and Oregon and Oregon State's women's basketball teams.[5][6] In October 2023, the WNBA was set to award a team to Portland with tech billionaire Kirk Brown as the planned owner of the team. Plans fell through days before a planned October 26 announcement when Brown pulled out which left the potential team without the required $50 million expansion fee. Brown and the league had a difference of opinion on the team's name branding, with Brown wanting the team to be called the Rose City Royalty, but Engelbert was "uncomfortable" with that idea. The league also found Brown's ownership stake in Shoot 360, a basketball training center with locations across the country, as a potential conflict of interest. The WNBA wanted him to give up his investment, but he refused and withdrew his bid with all of the conditions required.[6][7]
On September 18, 2024, Portland was officially awarded a franchise, which will be the WNBA's 15th team.[8] The team will be owned by Lisa Bhathal Merage and her brother Alex Bhathal via RAJ Sports, who also own the Thorns. They paid the WNBA $125 million for the franchise.[9] Lisa Bhathal Merage will serve as controlling owner and WNBA Governor; Alex Bhathal will serve as Alternate Governor. The team will begin play in 2026.[10] The Bhathals began conversations with the WNBA in late 2023 after the previous attempt to bring a team to Portland fell apart.[9] On the decision to award Portland a team, Engelbert said "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 added that he and his sister became convinced that Portland was a great market for women's sports during their process of purchasing the Thorns.[11]
In February 2025, RAJ Sports announced the first of its kind joint practice facility between the Fire and the Thorns in Hillsboro. The initial phase will cost US$75 million with the overall cost being US$150 million for the multi-phase project. A 63,000-square-foot training facility designed specifically for women athletes will be constructed and sections for each teams' sports are expected to be completed in time for both teams' 2026 seasons.[12] A groundbreaking ceremony was held in April.[13] Also in April, Inky Son was hired as the team president, but she was fired in June.[14][15] On June 27, former Nike executive Clare Hamill was named interim president.[16] Earlier that month, the WNBA filed trademarks for the "Portland Fire" leading to speculation that the team would revive the name.[4] On June 26, the team surpassed 10,000 season ticket deposits.[17]
On July 15, 2025, the team announced that it would be named the Portland Fire, reviving the name of the original WNBA team.[18]
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