The WNBA team in Portland, Ore., will be owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. They paid $125 million for the franchise.
The WNBA is headed back to Portland with the Oregon city getting an expansion team that will begin play starting in 2026. The team will be owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. They paid $125 million for the franchise. “This is huge for Portland. We are so honored and humbled to be the vessel that delivers this WNBA franchise to Portland,” Lisa Bhathal said. “And that’s really how we consider ourselves.
The Golden State Valkyries will begin play next season and Toronto in 2026. “It’s nice to have the Pacific Northwest kind of locked in now,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. Engelbert has said she hopes to have more teams by 2028. Portland had a WNBA team, the Fire, from 2000 till 2002 when it folded. That franchise averaged more than 8,000 fans when games were played at the Rose Garden. The new franchise will play at the Moda Center — home of the NBA's Trail Blazers.
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