WNBA Expansion Teams 2026: Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo

By Ryan MoalemiSeptember 30, 2026

Updated October 9, 2026: Removed the Cleveland Sirens name, which came from a site menu rather than the league announcement, and clarified that an expansion-draft selection can transfer contract or negotiating rights.

How the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo were built, how 2026 went, and which WNBA teams come next.

The WNBA has 15 teams in 2026. The two new ones are the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo, and both played their first games in May 2026. Toronto finished 11-33 and Portland went 17-27, and neither team made the playoffs.

#Portland and Toronto at a glance

#Portland Fire: the name came back

The Fire are Portland's second WNBA team, and they took the name of the first one. The league awarded Portland its 15th franchise on Sept. 18, 2024, with RAJ Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, as owner. The Bhathal family also owns the NWSL's Portland Thorns. Home games are at Moda Center downtown.

The WNBA called it a return to Portland "after more than 20 years." The original Portland Fire played three seasons, from 2000 to 2002. Linda Hargrove coached all three. They went 10-22, then 11-21, then 16-16, and never reached the playoffs. Jackie Stiles won Rookie of the Year for the Fire in 2001.

The new front office is pretty much built from scratch. The Fire hired Alex Sarama, a Cleveland Cavaliers assistant, as their first head coach in October 2025. He's known for a training method called the Constraints-Led Approach, and he told ESPN an expansion team was an ideal place to use it because nobody had to unlearn an old system. Vanja Černivec runs the roster as general manager.

Portland fans showed up right away. The Fire's May 9 home game against the Chicago Sky drew 19,335 at Moda Center, even though Chicago won 98-83.

#Toronto Tempo: the first WNBA team outside the US

Toronto is the first WNBA team based outside the United States. The league made it official on May 23, 2024, naming Toronto its 14th franchise. Kilmer Sports Ventures owns the team. Its chairman, Larry Tanenbaum, is also chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Raptors and Maple Leafs.

The Tempo play at Coca-Cola Coliseum at Exhibition Place. When the team was announced, the league said some games might also be played at Scotiabank Arena and in other parts of Canada.

Monica Wright Rogers was hired as the first general manager in February 2025. Sandy Brondello, who won a title with the Phoenix Mercury and later coached the New York Liberty, became head coach in November 2025.

The first game was a close loss. The Washington Mystics beat the Toronto Tempo 68-65 on May 8 in front of 8,210 fans at Coca-Cola Coliseum. The highlight of the season came on June 25, when Marina Mabrey scored 53 points in a win over the Los Angeles Sparks. That tied the WNBA single-game scoring record.

#WNBA expansion draft results

The expansion draft was held April 3, 2026. The Fire and Tempo took 22 players between them, and Portland picked first.

#WNBA expansion draft rules

Each of the 13 existing teams could protect up to five players from its roster list. Those lists covered players whose rights the teams held, including players on active, suspended, reserved, core or retired lists. Selection could transfer a contract or negotiating rights, not necessarily an immediately available player. Here's how it worked:

• The draft had two rounds with alternating picks. Portland selected first in round one; Toronto selected first in round two. The official rules governed which unprotected player rights could be acquired from each existing team.
• If a picked player didn't have a 2026 contract, her new team got the same rights her old team had.
• Each expansion team could take only one "potential unrestricted free agent," meaning a player with five or more years of service whose contract had run out.
• Toronto won a coin toss on March 27 but didn't take the No. 1 expansion pick [7]. It chose the No. 6 pick in the regular draft, which gave Portland the top expansion pick and No. 7 in the regular draft.
• Both teams made separate trades with the Chicago Sky and agreed not to pick anyone from Chicago's unprotected list.

#Who each team took

Portland used the first pick on Minnesota forward Bridget Carleton. Toronto opened with Julie Allemand. The table below records the complete selections and passes; it is an expansion-draft record, not either team's final roster.

#First-season results

Portland had the better year. The Fire finished 17-27, fifth in the West. Toronto went 11-33, sixth in the East. Both teams missed the playoffs.

We lined up both teams next to the Golden State Valkyries' first season in 2025, since that's the most recent expansion team to compare against.

Golden State's 23-21 inaugural season provides a useful benchmark, though the teams did not enter under identical roster-building conditions. Portland finished six wins below that mark and Toronto finished 12 below it. Neither reached the playoffs.

#What's next: new WNBA teams coming

Three more teams are confirmed, which will take the league to 18.

Cleveland is scheduled to begin play in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030. The WNBA and NBA Boards of Governors approved those additions on April 9, 2026.

The WNBA announced these three on June 30, 2025, and the WNBA and NBA Boards of Governors formally approved them on April 9, 2026. All three have NBA ownership groups, and each paid a $250 million expansion fee, per AP [17]. These are the three future franchises covered by the league announcement linked here.

#Future expansion fees on this page

#FAQ

#How many teams are in the WNBA in 2026?

Fifteen. The Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo joined in 2026, one year after the Golden State Valkyries. Three more teams are already approved after that.

#Are there WNBA expansion teams in 2027?

No team is scheduled to start in 2027. The next confirmed team is Cleveland in 2028.

#Sources

1. [ 1 ] WNBA.com, "WNBA Expands to Canada with Toronto Selected as the League's 14th Team" (May 23, 2024)
2. [ 2 ] WNBA.com, "Portland, Oregon Awarded WNBA's 15th Franchise" (Sept. 18, 2024)
3. [ 3 ] ESPN, "Fire hire Cavaliers assistant Alex Sarama as 1st head coach" (Oct. 17, 2025)
4. [ 4 ] Yahoo Sports, "Toronto Tempo hire former Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello" (Nov. 4, 2025)
5. [ 5 ] WNBA.com, expansion draft rules release
6. [ 6 ] WNBA.com, "Portland Fire, Toronto Tempo Select 22 Players in WNBA Expansion Draft 2026" (Apr. 3, 2026)
7. [ 7 ] ESPN, "Tempo win WNBA expansion coin toss, choose to draft sixth" (Mar. 27, 2026)
8. [ 8 ] ESPN, "Fire make Bridget Carleton top WNBA expansion draft pick"
9. [ 9 ] ESPN WNBA standings (2026 regular season, checked Sep 29, 2026)
10. [ 10 ] ESPN scoreboard, May 8 and May 9, 2026: May 8 and May 9
11. [ 11 ] Sportsnet (Canadian Press), "Tempo's Marina Mabrey ties WNBA points record with 53 in win over Sparks" (June 26, 2026)
12. [ 12 ] Basketball Reference, Portland Fire franchise history
13. [ 13 ] Basketball Reference, WNBA Rookie of the Year winners
14. [ 14 ] Basketball Reference, Golden State Valkyries franchise history
15. [ 15 ] WNBA.com, "WNBA Announces Expansion to Historic 18 Teams" (June 30, 2025)
16. [ 16 ] WNBA.com, "WNBA and NBA Board of Governors Approve WNBA Expansion Teams" (Apr. 9, 2026)
17. [ 17 ] AP, "WNBA expanding to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia"

Full Court Buckets · WNBA News. Analysis. Commentary.

Last checked Sep 29, 2026

Sources: WNBA.com on Toronto, WNBA.com on Portland, ESPN on Alex Sarama, Yahoo Sports on Sandy Brondello, WNBA.com expansion draft results. Carleton and Mabrey were the two unrestricted free agents taken. ESPN on the coin toss, ESPN standings, Basketball Reference.

How this story was made: drafted with AI tools from the sources linked above, then reviewed and edited by Ryan Moalemi. How we make Full Court Buckets