It’s official, Portland has been chosen to host a WNBA franchise starting in 2026 © Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
The 2024 WNBA regular season ends this week, and the North American league announced its expansion with the arrival of a 15 franchises on the part of Portland from the 2026 season negotiations began last year in the city of Oregon, because the clear purpose of Cathy ENGLEBERT, The commissioner of the league, will establish a championship with 16 franchises in 2028.
Cathy ENGLEBERTstated during his announcement:
“It’s nice that now the Pacific Northwest is kind of locked in.”
In fact, Portland will represent the third expansion franchise to be added to the league in the next two years, with the San Francisco Bay Area and Toronto already taking two more spots.
The family BATHAL tipped the scales in Portland’s bid with an offer of $125 million (a record) to win the trust of the WNBA. Lisa BATHAL reacted with great enthusiasm to this announcement:
“This is a huge event for Portland. We are very humbled and humbled to be the ship that brings this WNBA franchise to Portland. And that’s exactly how we see ourselves. Portland is incredibly diverse and vibrant community. We saw the love firsthand when we started watching the Portland Thorns (soccer franchise). So we’re excited about the future.”
Historically, there has been a franchise in the Portland area that ended in 2002.