The Ladies’s Nationwide Basketball Affiliation (WNBA) as we speak introduced that it has awarded Portland, Oregon, the league’s fifteenth franchise. The Portland-based crew, which can start play within the 2026 season, can be owned and operated by RAJ Sports activities, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. Portland is the third growth franchise awarded by the WNBA throughout this growth spherical, becoming a member of the Golden State Valkyries and a Toronto franchise, bringing the league’s complete to fifteen groups.
“Because the WNBA builds on a season of unprecedented development, bringing a crew again to Portland is one other vital step ahead,” mentioned WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “Portland is an epicenter of the ladies’s sports activities motion and is dwelling to a passionate group of basketball followers. By combining this power with the Bhathal household’s imaginative and prescient of main skilled sports activities groups, we are going to guarantee we ship a top-tier WNBA crew to the Portland area.”