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Welcome back, Portland Fire.
Portland’s WNBA team revealed its name and logo Tuesday in an epic video, and the name will be a familiar one to fans. After all, Portland’s previous WNBA team was also named the Fire, and they played three seasons from 2000 to 2002.
The announcement came with a video that included a montage of locations in the city and old Fire highlights.
It ends with the following message: “This is Portland. And in 2026, this is the city that will bring the game back. Welcome to the Portland Fire. Reborn.”
The team’s press release explained the logo features a number of nods to the city of Portland and the state of Oregon, including the silhouette of Mount Hood on the top of the P. What’s more, the “Rose on Fire” emblem pays homage to the city’s flower, while the “stylized letterforms [are] inspired by the curved roofline of the Moda Center, the team’s home arena.”
Moda Center is where Portland will host a fan launch party on Tuesday that will include special appearances and merchandise drops.
“As a city that has long championed women’s sports, Portland is ready to reclaim its place in the WNBA and reignite its connection to the game on the world stage,” Fire interim president Clare Hamill said. “We are thrilled to complete the journey of bringing professional women’s basketball back to the Rose City, while honoring the legacy of the original franchise to blaze a new, bold path forward.”
On Monday, the WNBA Portland social-media account hinted at what was to come with a post that included the message “our fire never died.”
The expansion team will begin play in the 2026 season and look to do something the previous iteration of the Fire did not and make the playoffs. Portland went 10-22 in 2000, 11-21 in 2001 and 16-16 in 2002.
Sylvia Crawley is the franchise’s all-time leader in points, rebounds, blocks and minutes played from those three years.
In September, the WNBA announced Portland would be the home of the league’s 15th franchise and would play its games at Moda Center.Â
The Golden State Valkyries are the newest expansion league to actually take the court with play starting during the ongoing 2025 season, while the expansion Toronto Tempo team will start play in 2026.
Last month, the WNBA announced it is also expanding to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia. Cleveland’s team will start in 2028, Detroit’s will start in 2029 and Philadelphia’s will begin in 2030.
