Portland WNBA team breaks ground on training center it will share with NWSL’s Thorns

HILLSBORO, Ore. — There’s no team name just yet, but the expansion Portland WNBA team broke ground Tuesday on the training facility it will share with the Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League.

The $150 million project set to be built west of Portland is the first such alliance between the two women’s leagues.

Portland’s WNBA team will join the league in 2026. The team is owned by the Bhathal family, which also owns the Thorns and has a stake in the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

Lisa Bhathal Merage said it was important to create a space that centered the needs of women.

“I think this performance center will be changing the dynamic for women’s sports for generations to come. It’s the first dual-purpose professional women’s sport performance center in the world, and we may not see any others after this,” Bhathal Merage said. “Our view is to collaborate, involve the community and really lift up everybody by that collaboration.”

Among those at the ceremony were NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek. The new training facility will repurpose buildings once owned by Nike.

Berman said that while some NWSL teams share facilities with Major League Soccer teams, the Bhathal’s approach is not only unique, but smart investment-wise.

“Instead of thinking about it through the lens of the same playing surface or playing environment, you both have female athletes and there are going to be economies of scale in our ability to service those professional athletes as women. So, we’re going to build this center of excellence around female athletes that’s rooted in our investment in the WNBA and NWSL. Makes total sense to me,” Berman said. “And certainly there are both strategic and tactical investments that can be made that can be leveraged for both properties that wouldn’t have to be duplicated.”

As for the much-anticipated team name? That’s coming.

“We’ve literally compiled every single comment from every single person into a massive spreadsheet and rank them in order of how popular they were. And we’ve worked with the WNBA on all of those names,” Bhathal Merage said. “So we are getting closer. We’re waiting for final league approval and, hopefully within the next two, maximum three months, we’ll be able to unveil everything.”