The WNBA adds an expansion team, making Portland the 15th team in the league.

On September 18th, the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) announced that Portland, Oregon would be the 15th team in the league. This expansion will be spearheaded by the new team’s owner and the WNBA Governor, Lisa Bhathal Merage, and the alternate governor, Alex Bhathal.

Portland has an NBA team, the Trailblazers, and while there is currently no women’s team, it hasn’t always been this way. Over 20 years ago there was a WNBA team called the Portland Firewhich only played three seasons, from 2000-2003.

It took a while for the Fire to get into the swing of things as they held a 10-22 overall record their first season and the following year wasn’t much better as they failed to make the playoffs. That wasn’t the only thing hurting their season. Star player and rookie of the year Jackie Stiles suffered an injury and was out for the rest of the season.

The Trail Blazers owner, Paul Allen, was the chairman of the team but suffered financial difficulties and came to the conclusion to sell. In other words, Portland’s Fire had burnt out.

With the announcement of the new expansion, the Portland women’s basketball team has an opportunity to make a comeback under a new team name. They’re not set to play until 2026, giving the team ample time to hone their skills.

WMBA Commissioner Cathy Englebert wants to shoot for 16 teams by 2028. She made a statement stating “With the largest television audience ever for the WNBA draft this year, increased ratings for games and more appearances on national television, the league has never been more visible. Expansion will increase that visibility.”

Former star player of the Portland Fire, Jackie Stiles, commented on this new team’s formation. She made a statement to Oregon Live saying “I’m thrilled about the news of Portland getting a WNBA expansion team. It’s fantastic to see women’s basketball thriving.”

Commissioner Engelbert commented on the new team at a conference at the Moda Center.“It’s become clear that Portland has become an epicenter for women’s sports,” Engelbert said.

Portland has had an increased interest in women’s sports, to the extent they now have a bar and restaurant called “The Sports Bra” which is all for women in sports and supporting women on and off the sports field. The restaurant is owned by Jenny Nguyen, and this is the first women’s sports bar.

Maddox Oliver, a sophomore at APU from Canby, Oregon, is very excited about the city’s newest addition. He states “I think that it is huge for Portland, Portland sports fans are pretty underrated as far as how involved they are with the teams. They are all so passionate and the city is very deserving of a WNBA team.”

Portlanders have pride in their sports teams such as the Trailblazers sand with the WNBA becoming more closely followed, there is a lot of excitement for fans across the city to get one more team. Since Portland only has one basketball team and two soccer teams, there is a lot of pride for the few there are.

He continues to say, “Since women’s basketball is growing at a really high rate right now and it’s very trendy and something that people are grasping onto, this is going to be huge for the city, and people are going to gravitate towards it and help bring the city together as a whole.”

When asked about what this means for women’s basketball, Maddox said, “ [the expansion team] allows the sport to grow and that there are more teams that can get more physical eyes and more attendance and in person more. I hope that this can get people to actually physically watch women’s basketball and grow the sport in that way.”

The WNBA coming to Portland opens a lot of doors for women’s basketball and the city to come back to life. Portland has been slow to bounce back from COVID and other issues, so this could mean a growth in the number of people who are going back to events