Portland Fire’s new logo and the return of its original team name.
Courtesy: Portland Fire | WNBA
Portland’s WNBA expansion team on Tuesday unveiled its new branding and name — the Portland Fire — a rekindling of the city’s previous WNBA team that played from 2000 to 2002.
The new logo features a rose on fire, a reference to Portland’s nickname as the “Rose City,” merged with the “unrelenting intensity of flame,” according to a release by the WNBA. The team colors are red, brown, blue and pink.
“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,” said Clare Hamill, Portland Fire interim president, in a statement.
“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,” Hamill said.
The new branding includes multiple nods to the city and region, according to the WNBA, including the 12 bridges that connect the city from east to west, the curved roofline of the team’s home arena, the Moda Center, and the silhouette of Mount Hood, the highest point in Oregon.
The relaunch comes as the team surpassed a milestone of 10,000 season ticket deposits, putting the Fire on pace to exceed previous WNBA season ticket deposit records, the league said.
The Portland team became the WNBA’s 15th franchise when it was announced in September. It is part of an expansion push for the WNBA and boom in women’s sports overall in recent years. In June, the WNBA announced the addition of three new teams in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia, bringing the total number of teams to 18 by 2030.
Sylvia Crawley #00 of the Portland Fire drives the ball around Lisa Leslie #9 of the Los Angeles Sparks in the game on June 3, 2002 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Andrew D. Bernstein | National Basketball Association | Getty Images
The team is owned by RAJ Sports, an investment firm focused on sports, led by Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage.
The Portland Fire will tip off in 2026 at the Moda Center in downtown Portland, the WNBA said. That arena is also home to the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers.
The team will train with the Portland Thorns FC team, also owned by RAJ Sports, at a forthcoming dual-sport women’s performance center.
