On September 18, 2024, the WNBA announced an expansion of its league, meaning cities across the country would receive new teams in upcoming seasons. Portland, Oregon, was one of those places, and in July of 2025, the team’s namesake was revealed to fans. In Portland’s case, the city was no stranger to supporting women’s basketball.
The Portland Fire first landed in the WNBA in 2000, to pair with the city’s NBA team, the Trail Blazers. That year, the league expanded their teams and soon saw the debuts of the Indiana Fever, Miami Sol and Seattle Storm. During this time, the Fire had a strong following with around 8,000 average tickets sold for home games, while the league average was around 9,000 tickets sold.
During their short 3 year existence, they hosted star player Jackie Stiles, who won WNBA rookie of the year in 2001, and seemed to be the start of many great things to come for the team. Unfortunately, they never reached much success, and even after their franchise-best record of 16-16 in 2002, the owners were tasked with a crossroads.
The WNBA was forcing teams to transfer ownership to either the NBA counterpart or third-party owners. Paul Allen, owner of both the Fire and Trail Blazers, was having rough financial troubles with both teams, and ultimately decided that the Trail Blazers were the better option in order for him to keep growing. He did not repurchase the Fire, and they burned out of the league as fast as they showed up.
After 22 long years of waiting and pleading for a team in Portland again, the expansion news of 2024 was a wish granted for the city. Plus, the historic name being revived proved to be a huge boost of excitement as well, and in 2025, the ball was finally rolling again for Portland’s women’s basketball team.
On May 9, 2026, fans got to witness a WNBA team in the Moda Center again for the first time in 24 years, and the buzz was clear across the city, and the rest of the country.
Overall, the WNBA has had a huge surge in popularity in the last 3 years. The league saw new stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese enter in 2024, and along with superstars like Aj’a Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu, the league entered a golden era in pro women’s basketball. Not to mention that sponsorship revenue across teams grew by 40% between the 24’ and 25’ season, and this is expected to keep rising throughout the 2026 season. During the 2024 season, many TV and attendance records were set, just to be shattered in 2025, and now with 2 new expansion teams, it’s obvious that excitement for the WNBA is far beyond an all-time high.
It was the perfect time for a new team in Portland, and this was reflected in their first home game. The Fire set a WNBA record for a team’s first game, with a sold-out crowd of 19,335 fans all cheering in the Moda Center. Before the game, the team was wearing shirts that said “Legacy Reignited” on the front and “2002 PDX 2026” on the back. Although the game ended in a 98-83 loss to the Chicago Sky, the support never wavered in the stadium. The home crowd was nicknamed the “Fire Pit” and quickly cemented itself as loyal fans. The impact was very felt by the players. “Sometimes it’s not about winning. It’s the team support and the support of everybody in the community. And those women, you could tell they felt when they were leaving,” says a fan.
“The fire pit was really lit,” says Sarah Ashlee Baker, guard for the Fire.
When they exited the court, a standing ovation was given by the fans in Portland, accompanied by familiar faces in the crowd such as Gov. Tina Kotek, Sen. Ron Wyden, and many Trail Blazers players.
In the end, the impact is bigger than a city or a state. Seeing basketball unite such a diverse community of people is an inspiring story that will continue to grow as the Portland Fire burn their story into the WNBA.
