Portland Awarded WNBA Franchise to Begin Play in 2026
With a third expansion team this cycle, league is now up to 15 teams
Posted On: September 18, 2024 By :The WNBA is headed back to Portland, with Oregon’s biggest city getting an expansion team that will begin play starting in 2026 led by the brother-sister duo of Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage, who paid $125 million for the franchise, which will play its home games at the Moda Center in downtown Portland.
Portland is the third expansion franchise awarded by the WNBA during this round of expansion, following the Golden State Valkyries and a Toronto franchise, bringing the league from 12 to 15 teams. The new team marks the WNBA’s return to Portland after more than 20 years. The Portland Fire played three seasons in the WNBA from 2000–2002. That franchise averaged more than 8,000 fans when games were played at the Rose Garden.
“For decades, Portland has been the global epicenter of sports lifestyle and today, we are now the global epicenter of women’s sports,” said Bhathal Merage. “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.”
The Bhathals will build a dedicated practice facility for the team. Lisa Bhathal Merage will serve as controlling owner and WNBA governor, while Alex Bhathal will serve as alternate governor. The Bhathal family (Lisa, Alex and their parents, Marta and Raj) are investors of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and controlling owners of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Portland Thorns. Bhathal Merage’s husband — Richard Merage, chief executive officer of MIG Capital, LLC — will also join the buyer group as an investor and executive board member of Portland WNBA.
“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.”
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