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Portland’s new WNBA expansion team still doesn’t have a name, logo, president, general manager, coach or any players. But they now have something just as important ahead of their start date of the 2026 season: plans for a practice facility.
On Thursday morning, the Bhathal family, who own the WNBA team as well as the NWSL’s Portland Thorns under their RAJ Sports umbrella, announced a joint practice facility for both teams, which will be located in Hillsboro, about 20 miles outside of Portland city limits. According to the Associated Press, it will be open ahead of the 2026 WNBA season.
The 12-acre, 63,000-square foot campus will feature two full-sized basketball courts, two full-sized soccer pitches and a full set of amenities including a weight room, massage therapy room and hot and cold tubs.
“When we acquired the Portland Thorns and the Portland WNBA franchise our family committed to investing into the Thorns, the WNBA franchise, and the Portland metro region,” Lisa Bhathal Merage said in a press release on Thursday. “Building an innovative training facility that provides the best possible environment for our athletes across professional soccer and professional basketball will be a game changer for women’s sports. Our goal is to create the most inclusive and welcoming environment for our athletes, staff, supporters, fans, partners and community as we strive to be an elite organization on the field, on the court, and in the community.”
The Bhathal family, who are minority owners of the Sacramento Kings and amassed their fortune in swimwear manufacturing and real estate, bought the Thorns from Merritt Paulson for $63 million in late 2023. Months prior, an attempt by a different ownership group to bring a WNBA expansion team to Portland fell through, and the Bhathals began exploring a bid of their own. That bid was accepted by the WNBA last fall, and the team was officially announced in September. As of November, the team had sold 7,500 season-ticket deposits ahead of their inaugural season in 2026.
When they bought the Thorns, the Bhathals promised to build a new practice facility. As they did the legwork on their effort to secure a WNBA expansion team, word locally was that their plan eventually was to combine the practice facilities for the Thorns and the WNBA team under one roof and build a state-of-the-art sports complex dedicated specifically to female athletes.
They made those plans official on Thursday.
