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Who owned the Portland Fire? Revisiting franchise's history as WNBA basketball returns to Oregon
With the WNBA continuing to grow in popularity, the league announced that it would be expanding to Portland for its 15th franchise. Play will commence in 2026 as the league returns to Oregon once again. On Nov. 1, 2023, the league originally decided to put the move to Portland on hold after Golden State was named as the expansion team for 2025.
The return of WNBA action to Portland doesn't mean it is the first team from the city in league. The city previously had the Portland Fire for three seasons. The Fire were owned by Paul Allen and played their games at the Rose Garden.
However, things got complicated for the Fire as the former Trail Blazers owner experienced financial issues due to on-court struggles of the team. Allen was not able to maintain ownership and the franchise was shut down in 2003.
The franchise had prominent players during their stint, including 2001 Rookie of the Year Jackie Stiles and former WNBA guard Sylvia Crawley.
The team did not last long enough to make a strong enough impression in the league. Its first two seasons saw the roster struggle. However, the Fire were able to trend toward the right direction during their third and final season. They became a team with a .500 winning percentage. Despite the much-improved year, they came up short in securing a playoff spot.
Bhathal siblings talked about being majority owners of Portland WNBA franchise
It is an exciting time to be a women's basketball fan with the presence of generational stars and the promising rookie class that has taken the league's popularity to the next level. Following the announcement that Portland will get a WNBA team once again, it was revealed that it will be owned by RAJ Sports. It is led by siblings Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal.
Lisa shared her enthusiasm for the opportunity:
"It's an exciting time. It's fun to be able to create a new team from scratch. Our hope is by the spring we'll have an announcement, but we do of course have deadlines if we want to have more customized jerseys with Nike and things like that."
Meanwhile, Alex Bathal sees a clear vision of what's next for the Portland franchise:
"Plans are coming together, but that will be a follow-up announcement. We will be investing in a training center for the WNBA as well as the Thorns. Those are commitments that we have made. They'll be first class, state-of-the-art facilities."
With so much anticipation already, 2026 should be a great year for basketball in Portland.
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