Portland’s WNBA enlargement staff unveiled their Portland Hearth staff identify on Tuesday, reclaiming the identical identify that the staff used throughout an preliminary WNBA run from 2000-2002.
“As a metropolis that has lengthy championed girls’s sports activities, Portland is able to reclaim its place within the WNBA and reignite its connection to the sport on the world stage,” mentioned Clare Hamill, Portland Hearth Interim President. “We’re thrilled to finish the journey of bringing skilled girls’s basketball again to the Rose Metropolis, whereas honoring the legacy of the unique franchise to blaze a brand new, daring path ahead.”
The brand incorporates a Hearth Crimson, Brown, Blue, and Pink palette that evokes the “energy, grit, calm, and creativity that defines the staff.”
The staff celebrated by internet hosting a fan launch get together on the Moda Heart.
The Hearth lately introduced that that they had surpassed over 11,000 season tickets deposits as they set to start play in 2026.
“Portland has lengthy stood on the forefront of ladies’s sports activities, and with practically 11,000 season ticket deposits to-date, this group has made it clear they’re able to embrace the return of ladies’s skilled basketball,” mentioned proprietor Lisa Bhathal Merage. “We’re proud to reignite the Portland Hearth and might’t wait to welcome new and longtime followers to the Moda Heart in 2026.”
The Hearth nonetheless have but to rent a basic supervisor or coach. Staff president Inky Son left the franchise final month.
The Hearth will debut alongside the Toronto Tempo subsequent season.
