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The WNBA is continuing its expansion, with the Golden State Valkyries being the first new team to play in the league from the 2025 season. Portland is the next city on in line to join the world's biggest women's basketball league.
They will enter the league in the 2026 season, and it looks like the authorities in charge of the unnamed franchise have already started making preparations. On Tuesday, ESPN reported on the Portland WNBA team breaking ground on a training facility.
According to their report, the project carries a $150 million investment and will be built on the western side of the city. Surprisingly, the unnamed WNBA team will share the facility with the city's professional soccer team, the Portland Thorns, which plays in the National Women's Soccer League.
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It is for the first time that teams from the top women's basketball league and top women's soccer league in the USA will form an alliance. Such an arrangement is made possible because of the owners of both franchises.
The Bhathal family owns both the upcoming Portland women's basketball team and the Thorns. Lisa Bhathal Merage from the Bhathal family shared her thoughts on the alliance and the facility during a press conference on Tuesday.
"I think this performance center will be changing the dynamic for women's sports for generations to come. It's the first dual-purpose professional women's sport performance center in the world, and we may not see any others after this," Bhathal Merage said. "Our view is to collaborate, involve the community and really lift up everybody by that collaboration."
The project will work on repurposing buildings once owned by Nike and mold them into training centers with top-of-the-line facilities and services for athletes from both sports.
Portland WNBA team owner reveals timeline for franchise's name reveal
A team's name is very important to them, as it becomes a major part of their identity and brand for the rest of the time in the league. Portland's WNBA team has yet to come up with a name which would bring an identity to their franchise.
During Tuesday's press conference, Lisa Bhathal Merage gave the fans a timeline for the name reveal of the women's basketball team set to join the league in 2026.
"We're waiting for final league approval and, hopefully within the next two, maximum three months, we'll be able to unveil everything," Bhatal Merage said.
The WNBA will have to undergo another expansion draft after the 2025 season, as they did last season for the Golden State Valyiries. However, nothing has been announced related to that decision yet.
