Nike is throwing its weight behind Portland's two professional women's sports franchises, announcing a new partnership with RAJ Sports that will bring product design, performance insights, and youth programming to the Portland Thorns and the Portland Fire. The deal centers on the Kaiser Permanente Performance Center, a first-of-its-kind dual-sport training facility in Hillsboro set to open later this year as the joint headquarters for both teams.
The announcement came during Epicenter Week, an industry summit held at Nike's Philip H. Knight Campus, according to KPTV. Under the arrangement, Nike will provide product, performance insights, and design assistance for the 100,000-square-foot facility, though financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. Lisa Bhathal Merage, managing partner of RAJ Sports and governor of both franchises, said the collaboration builds on the company's existing commitment to the city. “Partnering with Nike allows us to deepen that commitment by innovating together for women athletes, expanding access to sport for young girls, and supporting our community through joint initiatives,” she said.
A Shared Home for Two Franchises
The Kaiser Permanente Performance Center will serve as the joint training headquarters for the Thorns, who compete in the National Women's Soccer League, and the Fire, who play in the WNBA. The 12-acre, 100,000-square-foot complex is an adaptive reuse of a former Nike office campus in Hillsboro, leased from Workspace Property Trust under a 15-year agreement running through 2040, according to reporting cited in Business Wire coverage of the project. Kaiser Permanente secured naming rights to the facility in February and became the official medical provider for both teams, covering injury prevention, rehabilitation, and mental health support, per OPB.
RAJ Sports has been steadily consolidating its operations around the Hillsboro site. In May, the ownership group expanded its headquarters lease there to 29,000 square feet, moving more than 200 front-office employees next to the training facility as part of a broader $150 million campus buildout. That consolidation places administrative staff, athlete care, and community programming under one roof alongside the practice courts and fields.
Youth Programs and Community Reach
Beyond facility support, Nike will collaborate with RAJ Sports on youth sports programming across the Portland area, including clinics, mentorship, and product donations. That programming is designed to reduce barriers to sports participation for girls, part of a broader push by both organizations to grow the local pipeline of young athletes alongside the professional teams.
The partnership arrives amid a run of milestones for RAJ Sports, which now owns both major women's professional franchises in Portland. The group paid a record $63 million for the Thorns in January 2024, a deal reported at the time by Just Women's Sports. Later that year, RAJ Sports secured the WNBA's 15th expansion franchise for a $125 million fee, bringing professional women's basketball back to Portland for the first time since the original Portland Fire folded in 2002, according to AP News.
Momentum After a Rocky Path to Expansion
Portland's path to a second WNBA team wasn't smooth. An earlier attempt to bring an expansion franchise to the city collapsed in October 2023, days before a scheduled announcement, after tech entrepreneur Kirk Brown withdrew amid branding disputes and league conflict-of-interest rules, per Wikipedia's account of the failed bid. That collapse came after the league had set a $50 million expansion fee — less than half of what RAJ Sports ultimately agreed to pay a year later.
The revived Fire have since found early success both on the business side and on the court. The franchise generated more than 10,000 season ticket deposits ahead of its inaugural WNBA season at Moda Center, which it shares with the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. In May, the Fire notched a milestone win, as Hoodline reported in Portland Fire Stun Liberty At The Horn, ending a 24-year WNBA win drought tracing back to the original franchise's run from 2000 to 2002.
The Thorns, meanwhile, have continued to set attendance records of their own. The team drew a league-record total home attendance of 236,263 fans during the 2025 NWSL season at Providence Park while advancing to the league semifinals, according to figures released by Portland Thorns FC. Founded in 2012, the Thorns are three-time NWSL champions and have led the league in attendance since 2013.
Part of a Broader Boom in Women's Sports
The Nike deal lands amid a wider surge in investment across women's professional sports. The WNBA has grown from 12 teams in 2024 to 15 by 2026, a wave of expansion accompanied by an 11-year media rights deal worth roughly $3.1 billion, according to industry data from Genius Sports. Other recent expansion franchises include Golden State in 2025 and Toronto, which joined the league alongside Portland this year.
While the financial specifics of the Nike arrangement remain undisclosed, the broader trajectory is clear: RAJ Sports has gone from paying $63 million for the Thorns in early 2024 to committing $125 million for the Fire expansion later that same year, reflecting how quickly valuations in women's sports have climbed. With Nike's design and performance resources now attached to the Hillsboro campus, RAJ Sports is positioning Portland as a hub for both athlete development and youth recruitment in women's athletics for years to come.
