While the current league has 12 teams, the WNBA is expanding, and cities are jostling to create a franchise. After San Francisco and Toronto, Portland has just won the right to join the women's basketball league. The WNBA has specified that this 15th franchise will start the championship in 2026, like Toronto's.
The project is led by the Bhathal family, owners of the Portland Thorns (women's football), and they will pay $125 million entry fee. It's a record in WNBA history. As we learned in late August, the team's name and logo will be unveiled at a later date, and it's unclear whether the Bhathals intend to revive Portland's former WNBA franchise, the Fire, which folded in 2002. However, we do know that while the Rose Garden, where the Blazers play, is being completed, the women's team will play at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Starting next season, there will be 13 teams with the arrival of the Warriors, and the women's league hopes to have three more by 2028 to reach a 16-team championship. With Toronto and Portland, there will be 15 in 2026, and there will only be one franchise left to create within four years. Philadelphia, Denver, Nashville and Miami are in the running to be the last city to host this 16th team.
