RAJ Sports breaks ground on joint WNBA/NWSL practice facility in Hillsboro
HILLSBORO, Ore. (KOIN) -- The event may have occurred in an empty business park, but the joy was tangible on Tuesday in Hillsboro.
And soon enough, that business park won’t be empty. It will be bustling with life with a new joint practice facility for the Portland Thorns and the city’s future WNBA team.
“We didn’t ask for permission, we just did it. Everybody talks about equity, we’re building equity,” said Karina LeBlanc who has moved from being the Thorns GM to the EVP of Strategic Growth Development for both the Thorns and WNBA Portland.
There has never been a joint practice facility built for two professional women’s sports teams in different leagues ever in the world.
That changes now, with this practice facility set to open in 2026.
“How many times have you walked into a building that was built for women? This is a facility where it’ll be the first of its kind of professional women’s sports,” said LeBlanc. “Not only does it create a space of belonging, a place where athletes will feel safe and heard, it’s what’s possible. You look around us and this next generation, they’ll think this is normal.”
RAJ Sports is repurposing an existing office complex in Hillsboro that was previously used by Nike for the estimated $150 million sports facility.
The dual-sport center will sit on 12 acres — featuring a 63,000-square-foot training facility, 17,000-sqaure-foot practice gym with two full-sized basketball courts and two soccer pitches with an outdoor training space.
Additionally, the facility will include recovery lounges, hyperbaric therapy, active recovery pools, and an elite training program combining strength and conditioning, sports science, and sports medicine, RAJ Sports said, noting the space will create a community environment for both teams while elevating the athletes’ performance.
“I sat in a 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 of what women want,” said Thorns owner and WNBA Portland’s team governor Lisa Bhathal Merage, who added the facility will have a spa-like feel. “I’ve been involved in hand selecting every finish, carpet, tile to make it through the female lens of how we interact, how we look at things, what we want to see.”
To the people involved, Tuesday’s event wasn’t just about building a new structure. It was about the start of building a worldwide brand.
“This isn’t just about the two teams. It’s about establishing Oregon as the global epicenter of women’s sports,” said Oregon Governor Tina Kotek. “We all need t-shirts with that, the global epicenter of women’s sports.”
That epicenter also extends behind the scenes, as Bhathal Merage says she wants the two clubs to be the gold standard for advancing women in the business of sports as well.
“It’s an opportunity for me to give back. We don’t look at our investments as philanthropy at all, but it is about moving things forward,” said Bhathal Merage. “I’m so excited about the social impact we create and really changing opportunity for women in sports.”