Crossover Monday: Breaking ground on the new NWSL/WNBA training center in Portland.
Berman said the idea of a joint center just makes sense, which is why the league has embraced the project. "Certainly there are both strategic and tactical investments that can be made that can be leveraged for both properties that wouldn’t have to be duplicated,” she said.
A WNBA-NWSL collaboration? Not to step on Howard Megdal’s Basketball Wednesday IX but who doesn’t like a good collab?
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As the WNBA opens preseason training camps for the 2025 season, the owners of Portland’s WNBA expansion team for 2026 have been busy preparing for their launch. Because the owners, the Bhathal family, also own the Portland Thorns, there has been some crossover — most notably the $150 million training center that will serve both teams.
Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage, along with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman, among others, broke ground on the new facility last week.
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While we’ve posted about the facility before, here’s a few more details: It is located in Hillsboro, Oregon, west of Portland. The owners are repurposing some empty office buildings formerly owned by Nike.
The center will include two full-size soccer fields an outdoor training area and a gym that will house basketball courts. The most important aspect of the facility is that it is being purposely built for women, so it will include things like a family room for players with kids.
Berman said the idea of a joint center just makes sense, which is why the league has embraced the project. “Certainly there are both strategic and tactical investments that can be made that can be leveraged for both properties that wouldn’t have to be duplicated,” she said.
The situation in Portland is unique with shared ownership, but Berman said she wouldn’t rule out future collaboration with the WNBA that center women, where it makes sense, and where there are growth opportunities.
Wyden is the ultimate hype man for anything Oregon. Here you can see him speak along with some of the others at the event. And the back of my head!:
D2 LEAGUE COMING?
Kudos to CBS Sports’ Pardeep Cattry for breaking the news that the NWSL has applied with U.S. Soccer for a Division II league.
If sanctioned, a possible eight-team league would sit on the second tier of the U.S. soccer pyramid, below the NWSL and the USL Women’s Super League, and would serve to develop young players. It could launch as early as next year.
“As a global leader in the women’s soccer landscape both on and off the pitch, the NWSL and its member clubs are committed to growing our sport in meaningful ways,” the league said in a statement. “The demand for professional soccer has never been higher. We look forward to working to build a strong foundation for future generations of players, officials and coaches and ensure the continued advancement of the women’s game.”
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U.S. Soccer has certain conditions for Division II sanctioning, including a minimum of six teams and stadiums that seat at least 2,000. In the case of the NWSL, all of the lower-division teams would be affiliated with top-tier clubs, sharing ownership and infrastructure.
LINKS
Kansas City Current lose for the first time this season.
The Athletic looks at what an NWSL Division II means for women’s soccer
Jrue and Lauren Holiday join ownership group of the NC Courage. Lauren will take on an advisory role with the club.
The NWSL is embracing rivalries.
Women’s football in Egypt is on the rise
ESPN on how African players have raised the bar in the NWSL.
Colorado Sun looks at possible economic impact of the Denver NWSL team
Story from USA Today on Gals FC, an inclusive soccer program
Almuth Schult believes her career ended early because clubs were reluctant to sign children
Ian Wright steps up to fund a players’ ACL recovery after club refused.
Bay FC is gonna play a match at Oracle Park
Arsenal reach Champions League final
World Sevens Football announces teams for first tournament.
LISA BHATHAL MERAGE INTERVIEW
Got a chance to catch up with Lisa Bhathal Merage, owner of the Portland Thorns and WNBA Portland, at the groundbreaking. Here’s what she said:
Annie: What does today mean to you?
Bhathal Merage: “Today for us is ground breaking literally, literally and figuratively. Because it is about moving forward and cementing Portland as a global epicenter for women’s sports. I think this performance center will be changing the dynamic for women’s sports for generations to come. It’s the first dual purpose, professional women’s sport performance center in the world. And we may not see any others after this, but our view is to collaborate, involve the community and really lift up everybody by that collaboration.
Annie: I’ve always kind of been curious when you fought the thorns, did you intend to also buy into a WNBA team?
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Lisa Bhathal Merage: Buying a WNBA team was not on our radar at the time, but when we were in the process of closing the Thorns, we heard about what was happening and how with the previous potential owner, it fell through. And with our deep-seeded relationships in the NBA, we reached out and let them know that we were in the process of, closing and purchasing the Portland Thorns, and what we were doing and looking to build here in Portland, and they were interested in our throwing a hat in the ring, and luckily it all came to fruition. I think the stars aligned. And for us, we definitely doubled down in Portland. But the fans and the supporters are really the reason Portland is like no other city. When you see the fan base and how people are so passionate about this.
Annie: I think a lot of people, are interested in a when are you going to have a team name?
Lisa Bhathal Merage: We hired on Inky Son (as team president), who’s here today. And that was our first step. We were very, very thoughtful and careful with our search. It took a little bit longer than we had expected to land on finding the right person for the job. So she’s the first step. We have been working on the team name, but I’ll tell you, it’s kind of like being able to select a name for your child, but then somebody tells you, no, you can’t have that name. And you can’t have that name either, because the, it’s very difficult to get the IP and, get the trademark. So we’ve gone through a lot of different names. We’ve used the sources that a lot of you have helped out with, with crowdsourcing. … We’ve literally compiled every single comment from every single person into a massive spreadsheet and rank them in order of how popular they were. And we’ve worked with the WNBA on all of those names. So we are getting closer. We’re waiting for final league approval and, hopefully within the next two maximum three months, we’ll be able to unveil everything.
Annie: Karina LeBlanc had talked about how you were very involved with the design of this and making it a women’s centric space, and I kind of wanted to get your thoughts on creating this, this facility and why it was important to you to to include those elements.
Lisa Bhathal-Merage: Thank you for asking that because I sat in a group, big conference room, with one other woman and questioned, why do we do things a certain way? Is it because it’s always been done this way in the men’s world? Because we need to be looking through a different lens about what women want. So for us, you’ll see different elements as this thing comes to fruition with regard to a spa-type feel in the recovery areas, having some private changing areas that men don’t have. But as women, we like sometimes having that privacy. I had a meeting with Populous (design firm) a few weeks ago and I’m going back there today, and I’ve been involved in hand selecting literally every finished carpet tile to make it through the female lens of how we interact, how we look at things, what we want to see.
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
