Portland Hearth’s new emblem and the return of its unique crew identify.
Courtesy: Portland Hearth | WNBA
Portland’s WNBA enlargement crew on Tuesday unveiled its new branding and identify — the Portland Hearth — a rekindling of town’s earlier WNBA crew that performed from 2000 to 2002.
The brand new emblem includes a rose on fireplace, a reference to Portland’s nickname because the “Rose Metropolis,” merged with the “unrelenting depth of flame,” in accordance with a launch by the WNBA. The crew colours are purple, brown, blue and pink.
“As a metropolis that has lengthy championed ladies’s sports activities, Portland is able to reclaim its place within the WNBA and reignite its connection to the sport on the world stage,” mentioned Clare Hamill, Portland Hearth interim president, in an announcement.
“We’re thrilled to finish the journey of bringing skilled ladies’s basketball again to the Rose Metropolis, whereas honoring the legacy of the unique franchise to blaze a brand new, daring path ahead,” Hamill mentioned.
The brand new branding contains a number of nods to town and area, in accordance with the WNBA, together with the 12 bridges that join town from east to west, the curved roofline of the crew’s house enviornment, the Moda Heart, and the silhouette of Mount Hood, the very best level in Oregon.
The relaunch comes because the crew surpassed a milestone of 10,000 season ticket deposits, placing the Hearth on tempo to exceed earlier WNBA season ticket deposit data, the league mentioned.
The Portland crew grew to become the WNBA’s fifteenth franchise when it was introduced in September. It’s a part of an enlargement push for the WNBA and increase in ladies’s sports activities total in recent times. In June, the WNBA introduced the addition of three new groups in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia, bringing the whole variety of groups to 18 by 2030.
Sylvia Crawley #00 of the Portland Hearth drives the ball round Lisa Leslie #9 of the Los Angeles Sparks within the recreation on June 3, 2002 at Staples Heart in Los Angeles, California.
Andrew D. Bernstein | Nationwide Basketball Affiliation | Getty Pictures
The crew is owned by RAJ Sports activities, an funding agency centered on sports activities, led by Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage.
The Portland Hearth will tip off in 2026 on the Moda Heart in downtown Portland, the WNBA mentioned. That enviornment can also be house to the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers.
The crew will prepare with the Portland Thorns FC crew, additionally owned by RAJ Sports activities, at a forthcoming dual-sport ladies’s efficiency middle.
Keep forward of the curve with NextBusiness 24. Discover extra tales, subscribe to our e-newsletter, and be part of our rising neighborhood at nextbusiness24.com