Riding wave of unprecedented popularity, WNBA announces 15th team will go to Portland

Portland is the latest city to be awarded a WNBA franchise, the league announced Wednesday, and will begin play in 2026, bringing the total number of teams to 15.

The WNBA previously announced expansion franchises in the Bay Area (slated to begin play in 2025) and Toronto (2026).

Portland’s ownership group will be led by the Bhathal family, the same group that recently purchased the Thorns for $63 million after previous owner Merritt Paulson was widely criticized by the fanbase for his role in an abuse scandal. Raj Bhathal is co-owner of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

"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. "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."

Engelbert has said she wants to get to 16 teams eventually, but no one is sure how soon the next franchise will be announced. A variety of cities, including Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville and Denver, among others, are reportedly in contention to be the 16th WNBA team for a league that, until it announced the Bay Area team last October, hadn’t expanded since 2008. 

Details about the coming expansion drafts – one is expected at the end of this year and one next year – are still to be announced. 

The WNBA has experienced an unprecedented boost in popularity this season, led by rookie sensations Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, who have helped shatter previous records for TV viewership, attendance and merchandise sales. In July, the league announced a new 11-year media rights deal worth a reported $2.2 billion.

Clark and the Indiana Fever already have secured a spot in the 2024 playoffs – Indiana’s first postseason appearance since 2016 – while Reese’s Chicago Sky are fighting for the eighth and final spot. Reese announced on Sept. 8 she would miss the remainder of the season after sustaining a left wrist injury that will require surgery. Clark, meanwhile, is favored to win 2024 Rookie of the Year honors. 

In Portland, the WNBA is choosing to go back to a city it previously tried to succeed in. The Portland Fire lasted just three seasons in the Rose City from 2000-02, compiling a record of 37-59. The team never made the playoffs.

But things are very different now compared to then. The NWSL’s Portland Thorns routinely draw sellout crowds, and have been one of the league leaders in attendance for years. Just a couple hours down I-5, top 25 programs Oregon and Oregon State both boast loyal fan bases and recent Final Four trips (Oregon in 2019, Oregon State in 2016).

"For decades, Portland has been the global epicenter of sports lifestyle and today, we are now the global epicenter of women’s sports," Lisa Bhathal Merage said in a statement. "We believe in the transformative power of women’s sports and are thrilled that the W will call Portland home. We know that Portland’s vibrant and diverse communities will highly support and rally around this team. Our goal is to grow this organization in partnership with the Portland community and we look forward to supporting the best women’s basketball players in the world when they take the floor at the Moda Center in 2026."

Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts, a longtime assistant with the Portland Trail Blazers, told reporters that Portland is "a great basketball city … that would be awesome to see a W franchise in Portland for sure."

Women’s sports, led by women’s basketball specifically, are exploding across the country. TV viewership for both the NCAA women’s tournament and WNBA has soared the past few seasons, with millions tuning in to watch a new generation of talent. In February 2022, Engelbert announced a capital raise of $75 million, then the largest-ever in women’s sports. The money was slated to be used for marking and elevating the league’s brand. 

And the NWSL shows there is interest from investors. The league is now at 14 teams with the addition of Bay Area and Utah this season, and a Boston franchise will begin play in 2026.

The WNBA last added a team in 2008, when Atlanta joined. Only four franchises remain from the inaugural eight-team league that launched in 1997, with financial backing from the NBA: The New York Liberty, Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury and Las Vegas Aces (originally known as the Utah Starzz, and previously under different ownership). 

Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell