THREE’S COMPANY
Today, Kathy Engelbert and the WNBA announced a third expansion team to the 12 team league. Portland is the proud new home of a WNBA franchise which will begin play in 2026. They join the previously announced additions of Toronto and San Fransisco’s Golden State Valkyries, the latter of which will be the first team to join the fray as they tip-off next season, 2025.
The Valkyries have set a blistering pace since they were as the first expansion team in the WNBA since the Atlanta Dream were fresh on the scene in 2008. Next season’s newcomers have already made history by becoming the first professional women’s sports team to secure more than 17,000 season ticket deposits before signing a single player . That number is extremely significant as it paints a picture of a season where the new kids on the block join the Indiana Fever as the only franchises to average more than 17,000 fans per home game. It should be noted that the majority of WNBA teams do not play in a stadium with that level of capacity, which limits the ability of other teams already in the league and with large fan bases to compete with the numbers that the Fever are boasting. For example, the Aces are the first team in league history to sell out season tickets in back-to-back seasons (‘24 and already for ‘25) and are the only team to sell out every single home game in a single season (‘24) but they play the majority of their games in an 11,000-person capacity stadium.
It has yet to be determined if the new hoopers in Portland will share a home stadium with the Trailblazers at the high capacity Moda Center, housing 20,500 seats. Barring some sort of intervention by Nike HQ, there are few other options to host a WNBA game, so it seems likely that this team could enter the crowd size conversation that seems such a hot topic nationally of late.
Perhaps most notable about this announcement is that the Portland franchise will be run by majority owners, the Bhathal family, who purchased the Portland Thorns in January of this year. The Thorns were put up for sale by Timbers owner Merritt Paulson following multiple investigations which found abuse and misconduct within the organization. Famously, Paulson has been a public and vocal supporter of all-time WoSo bad guy, Paul Riley. Even going so far as to recommend and endorse Riley for the NC Courage head coaching position knowing he was essentially fired from the Thorns because of his abuse. Anyone singing Riley’s praises should not be allowed within one million feet of a woman, let alone run a women’s workplace, or profit from the hard work of women athletes.
The Bhathal family bring an ideal mix of experience to a WNBA franchise having spent the last decade as limited partners of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and, albeit a short sample size so far, experience with ownership in the professional women’s sports space. They also have a background in player development with ownership stakes in minor league baseball with the Sacramento Rivercats and the NBA’s G-League’s Stockton Kings.
The Bhathal Family amassed their fortune from Raj Swimwear, a company started by Raj Bhethal in the 1960’s after he emigrated from India to Southern California. Today the business efforts are run by his grandchildren, Alex and Lisa, and their business portfolio includes Raj Sports, a commercial real estate investment fund Reviate, and Raj Capital, which has investments in sports recovery brand, Therabody.
This new franchise will be Portland’s second go at sustaining a WNBA team; the Portland Fire folded in 2002 after just 3 short seasons. There have been some significant changes to the landscape of women’s sports and the City of Portland itself since then, which gives this go-round a much more likely chance at success. We’re all familiar with the growth of Women’s Sport as of late, if you weren’t you wouldn’t be here, but perhaps you haven’t heard as much about the shift in Portland. For many years the attendance numbers of the Portland Thorns were a beacon of hope, sustaining the league until the rest of the NWSL could catch up. Portland is also home to the flagship women’s sports bar that inspired many others across the country, the Sports Bra. The owner of the Sports Bra even recently signed a franchising deal with Angel City FC investor Alexis Ohanian. All of this evidence paired with the instant Cascadia Rivalry this team will have with the Seattle Storm make it clear to me why this city was a clear choice.
All-in-all this growth is a great sign for the league and the announcement seemed to be a huge success with “WNBA” being the top trending topic under Sports today on X (formerly and possibly always known as Twitter). Whether that buzz had more to do with this announcement, or the fact that Brittany Griner and rookie, Rickea Jackson, almost threw ‘bows in last nights game we may never know. Maybe Kathy can chalk this timing up to happy accidents.