PORTLAND, Ore. — Professional women's basketball is making its return to Portland, and fans are ecstatic.
"I’m a huge W fan since I was a little kid, so this is a dream come true, and I can’t wait to go to every single game," said basketball fan Monica Schrock.
"I'm just excited to have a basketball team at all, so to have a women's team in a city as well as a men's team, it’s definitely my preference and I like the women's game more," said Jen Maxted, who also said she will be certainly be going to games.
Many fans celebrated in the Rose Quarter outside the Moda Center on Wednesday afternoon during a block party hosted by Portland WNBA, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Sports Bra.
The WNBA was last in Portland from 2000 to 2002, when it was home to the Portland Fire for three seasons.
“Portland was a little ahead of its time in that the league's the economic footing wasn't there for women's sports to thrive at that time," said Jim Etzel, the CEO of Sport Oregon, a nonprofit that works to drive economic impact through sports.
But now, things are different. Etzel said that the WNBA expansion will also help the economy out, and will hopefully open the door for more opportunities like this.
“We're the largest market in the top 25 with the fewest number of professional sports teams," said Etzel. "Economically, it means more workforce, jobs. In the arena, it means front office jobs, at the franchise level, it means construction jobs for the training centers."
Business owners like Jenny Nguyen, founder and CEO of the Sports Bra, said that she's been waiting for this moment for so long, and is thrilled the WNBA is back in Portland.
“We're starting to see a trajectory of women's sports booming, absolutely booming. And everybody knows that the W needs to expand. We have so many wonderful players that aren't getting to be put on teams," said Nguyen. "As soon as I found out that this was happening, I thought, 'Oh my gosh, we're gonna need a bigger bar.'"
Nguyen urges people to show up for the games and celebrate, something it seems fans will have no problem doing.
"I think it's huge, so many of the conversations today were around how Portland is this global epicenter for women's sports, and it's just so exciting to see another professional sports team coming to our city," said Hannah Bergersen, another sports fan.
A team name and logo will be announced at a later date.