Portland Fire Return to the WNBA After 24 Years, Sell Out Home Debut

May 9, 2026

The WNBA's 30th anniversary season kicked off in May with real history: the league expanded to 15 teams with the debut of the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, marking the first time in over two decades that Portland has had a professional women's basketball team.

The Fire's home opener on May 9 drew a sellout crowd of 19,335 at Moda Center — the largest attendance ever recorded for a WNBA expansion team's home debut. The atmosphere lived up to the moment; the arena, nicknamed "the fire pit" for the occasion, roared for every basket despite Portland trailing for most of the night. The Fire ultimately fell 98-83 to the Chicago Sky, but not without a push — Portland outscored Chicago 30-18 in the third quarter alone.

This wasn't Portland's first taste of WNBA basketball. The original Portland Fire played three seasons from 2000-02 before folding, and the 2026 roster paid tribute to that history, warming up in shirts reading "Legacy Reignited" with "2002 PDX 2026" on the back.

The expansion into Portland and Toronto also arrived alongside a new collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players' union — one both sides have called transformational, introducing a revenue-sharing model more in line with other major professional sports leagues.

Two new markets, a landmark labor deal, and a record-setting crowd — May made clear this wasn't going to be a quiet anniversary season. Of everything the league could have opened its 30th year with, a sold-out expansion debut and a real labor win for players is about as strong a starting statement as it gets.