Portland had a previous WNBA team, the Fire, which played for just two seasons and folded in 2002. It’s not yet decided if the new franchise will keep that name or get a new one. The team will play at the Moda Center, also home to the Portland Trail Blazers.

The WNBA announced Wednesday it has awarded Portland, Oregon a new expansion franchise, which will begin play in the 2026 season. By then, the league will have 15 teams, with the Golden State Valkyries set to join next season and a yet unnamed Toronto franchise also arriving in 2026.

The WNBA is headed back to Portland, with Oregon’s biggest city getting an expansion team that will begin play in 2026.

More than half of the WNBA playoff seeds are set with the New York Liberty clinching the No. 1 seed on Tuesday night. The rest of the postseason matchups will be determined when the regular season closes out on Thursday night.

The New York Liberty have clinched the No. 1 overall seed and home-court advantage throughout the WNBA playoffs by virtue of their 87-71 victory over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night. This is the first time the Liberty have been the No.

A year after falling short in the finals, the New York Liberty clinched the No. 1 seed for the upcoming WNBA playoffs. The Liberty (32-7) secured the top spot Tuesday night by beating the Washington Mystics 87-71.