After 24 long years, the Fire is finally back in Portland—and the city couldn't be more fired up.
The expansion Portland Fire made a triumphant return to the court Saturday night, hosting the Chicago Sky in their WNBA season opener at Moda Center, which was rechristened the "Fire Pit" for the occasion. The energy in the building was electric, and the players set the tone before tip-off, warming up in T-shirts emblazoned with "Legacy Reignited" on the front and "2002 PDX 2026" on the back—a heartfelt nod to the original Fire franchise that burned bright for three seasons from 2000 to 2002.
And the fans showed up in a big way. The game was a sellout, with an announced crowd of 19,335 packing the arena. Among the notable faces in attendance were Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, "Portlandia" star Carrie Brownstein, and Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday alongside his wife Lauren Holiday, a former star for the U.S. women's national soccer team. The star-studded crowd underscored just how much this moment meant to the city.
"This is such a good fit for us, and it's practically in our DNA," Wyden said. "We had Phil Knight who started with sneakers. We've had terrific players who've ended up at colleges all over America. We're showing that Oregon has lots of good things in sports, and basketball is at the top."
The original Fire, which played its home games at the then-Rose Garden (now Moda Center), was chaired by the late Paul Allen—co-founder of Microsoft and longtime Trail Blazers owner. That squad featured standout players like Jackie Stiles, Vanessa Nygaard, and Sylvia Crawley, drawing an average of around 8,000 fans per game. But when the NBA sold off its WNBA teams in 2002, Allen opted not to purchase the Fire, and the team folded after just three seasons.
Fast forward to September 2024, when Portland was awarded a new WNBA expansion franchise. The team is now owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, who also own the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League. They paid a reported $125 million to bring the Fire back to life.
"This is game-changing for our city. This is cementing the global epicenter of women's sports," Bhathal Merage said. "Our fan base is going to show up for these players and they're going to show what playing for Portland means."
If Saturday night was any indication, the Fire's return isn't just a flash in the pan—it's a legacy reignited.