“You know what’s better than 14 teams? 😏” asked the WNBA on X yesterday. The only correct answer is a 15th team! After more than two decades, the W is returning to Portland, Oregon, amid a rising interest in women’s sports. After the NWSL’s Portland Thorns and the large NCAA popularity, the city will finally have another WNBA team to call its own. But what happened to the original Portland Fire?

The only women’s basketball the Oregon city has known was a three-year blimp at the beginning of the century by a team doomed to failure. Had they not folded, they may have been at par with the powerful teams of today. But what exactly happened in Portland from 2000 to 2002?

How the Portland Fire fizzled out too early

After league play started in 1997, the Portland Fire began their debut season in 2000. The first year was understandably hard, with the team averaging a 10–22 win-loss record. The second season did not get better. By 2002, the Fire reached the .500 mark but the team didn’t ever make the playoffs. The financial burden on the owners was rising, and for Paul Allen, it was time to sell. It didn’t help that the Fire’s star players were going through an injury period.

There were Sylvia Crawley and Vanessa Nygaard, and then-Rookie of the Year Award winner Jackie Stiles. But in what would prove to be the team’s last year, Stiles suffered severe injuries, the nature of which is unclear. The then-WNBA sensation eventually went on to have multiple surgeries in her short career in the W, but her time with the Portland Fire is still memorable. After all, that team averaged 8000 fans at the original arena, per the Associated Press.

Nevertheless, the team chairman Paul Allen sold the franchise to its NBA counterpart, the NBA Trail Blazers, making the Fire the only WNBA team in league history never having played in the playoffs. But now, commissioner Cathy Engelbert has some good news. The 15th expansion franchise, the new Portland women’s basketball team, will have a new team logo, a new practice center, and a new name.

The only similar thing will be the haunting grounds that they share with their NBA counterparts, the Rose Garden Center, which has a new name now – the Moda Center. “As the WNBA builds on a season of unprecedented growth, bringing a team back to Portland is another important step forward,” Engelbert said.

The team will begin play in 2026. But after ruined plans and a team long in the making, what does the new ownership of the Portland Fire look like?

Established sports owners RAJ Sports set to take over new Portland Fire

Last year, the WNBA announced its intentions to expand to Portland. The deal was made, but then the new owner pulled out at the last minute. ZoomInfo cofounder Kirk Brown had promised to pour in money originally, but when the time came close to finalize things, ZoomInfo sales went downhill. The project was canceled, and Cathy Engelbert told Ron Wyden, Oregon’s senior U.S. Senator, “When the time is right, we look forward to pursuing prospects for bringing the WNBA to Portland.”

Well, the time is now! RAJ Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, will lead the charge for the new team in Portland. Per the WNBA’s official website, “Lisa Bhathal Merage will serve as controlling owner and WNBA Governor, while Alex Bhathal will serve as Alternate Governor. The Bhathal family (Lisa, Alex and their parents, Marta and Raj) brings more than 50 years of experience in the professional sports industry, including serving as investors of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and controlling owners of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Portland Thorns.”

One of the major issues of the last team was a financial problem, which might not be the case today. Moreover, the WNBA had just begun spreading its wings twenty years ago. Today, the viewership on ESPN is up 183% compared to last season, the network reported in July. It’s largely thanks to the 2024 draft class, and the league has no intention of stopping anytime soon.