Portland newest home to WNBA with expansion team starting play in 2026

The WNBA’s popularity is booming — and the league knows that’s when to take advantage and expand.

Wednesday, the WNBA made formal the long-expected: The league will add a 15th team in Portland, starting play in 2026.

The Portland franchise will be owned by RAJ Sports, run by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. Lisa Bhathal Merage will serve as the controlling owner and WNBA Governor. The family has experience owning professional teams, they are investors in the Sacramento Kings and are the controlling owners of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Portland Thorns (who average 18,000 fans a game).

“This is huge for Portland. We are so honored and humbled to be the vessel that delivers this WNBA franchise to Portland,” Lisa Bhathal Merage told the Associated Press. “And that’s really how we consider ourselves. Portland is this incredibly diverse, enthusiastic community. We saw the passion first-hand when we started looking into the Portland Thorns and this is Basketball City. So we’re very excited about the future.”

Portland had a previous WNBA team, the Fire, which played for just two seasons and folded in 2002. It’s not yet decided if the new franchise will keep that name or get a new one. The team will play at the Moda Center, also home to the Portland Trail Blazers.

“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 said in a statement announcing the new team. “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.”

This season, 12 WNBA teams are fighting it out down to the final day (Thursday) for eight playoff spots, but in two years, that will jump up to 15 teams in the W. The league had already announced two expansion teams — the Golden State Valkyries, which starts play in 2025, and a Toronto franchise to begin in 2026 — and Portland adds to that….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/portland-newest-home-wnba-expansion-160919669.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-09-18 16:09:19

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.