Is Portland getting another WNBA team?

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Is Portland getting another WNBA team? That seems to be the question of the week after it was announced that Women’s National Basketball Association commissioner Cathy Engelbert is visiting the Rose City next week.

Senator Ron Wyden (D) of Oregon in a press release Monday pushed for a new franchise in Portland.

Engelbert welcomed his invitation to take part in a panel discussion on women’s sports during her visit on Monday, February 6, said Senator Wyden said in a press release.

Top Portland Trail Blazers and Portland Thorns officials, along with Kelly Graves of the University of Oregon and Scott Rueck of Oregon State University, will be participating in the roundtable discussion, according to Wyden.

Looking forward very much to next week’s discussion in Portland with @CathyEngelbert about the @WNBA & the huge support for women’s sports in Oregon. There’s no doubt a WNBA team would be a slam-dunk success in #RipCity https://t.co/B5DE455ODS
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 30, 2023

There are now 12 active WNBA franchises, including the Pacific Northwest’s Seattle Storm. Since the Atlanta Dream joined the league in 2008, the league has not welcomed a new team.

The Portland Fire, a short-lived WNBA team, formerly competed in three seasons at Rose Garden in Portland until the squad was eliminated.