WNBA Expansion: Portland Fire release first look at new jerseys

As we continue in this weird WNBA offseason that has seen schedules being dropped despite no end in sight to CBA negotiations, we have another team update. The Portland Fire, who will be joining the Toronto Tempo as the league’s new teams next season, released their jerseys.

When Tempo released their jerseys last month, it was only their Explorer and Heroine editions, and the Fire have done the same here. When Golden State, the first expansion team in this wave, released their jerseys before the 2025 WNBA season, they also only had two editions. They will likely release Rebel editions in the future.

Each WNBA team has an Explorer jersey that celebrates the city the team plays in. The Fire went with a simple red base and the name Portland on the front.

Every team’s Heroine jersey is white and usually has the team’s name on it. In Portland’s case, their white jersey displays the name “Fire” across the chest.

The team also released a new “PDX” logo, which could lead fans to believe that it’s a sneak peek of what they will display on their Rebel edition jerseys in the future. The team described the design of the PDX logo in a press release, saying:

The body of the “P” and the “D” is inspired by the Willamette River that flows through the heart of the city, representing strength and connection. At the bottom point of the “D”, the team celebrates PDX as a well-known point of arrival, and the team’s arrival to the market in 2026. The “X” is intentionally designed to celebrate the conviction, pride and individual expression of Portland.

Overall, the jerseys are pretty simple. The font on both editions is nice, tying in the “thorn” aspect of the Fire’s rose design — since Portland is known as the Rose City. It would have been fun to explore with flames a little bit more, but instead, the team opted for almost abstract flame designs on the side of the jerseys. Obviously, the red and white are the team colors, so you can’t experiment too much with that, but they do look a little… plain?

That’s just what fashion leans towards these days, though. These jerseys are extremely wearable, which is a point in the pro column for them. Fans in the WNBA’s other expansion city, Toronto, would probably praise Portland’s jerseys for not having as many ads as the Tempo’s do — a big point of contention when theirs were dropped in December.

Overall, these are nice. Now, will they actually get to debut on the court this season? After the latest round of CBA updates on Wednesday, I’m less sure than I’ve ever been.