Portland Fire Coverage Reignites on PortlandSupporter.com
For many months, doubt swirled around the future of professional women's basketball in Portland. Following last week's preliminary agreement on a new CBA, it is time to resume coverage here.
When the last WNBA season ended, I feared the worst.
Women’s sports are currently experiencing a golden age, with the NWSL and WNBA drawing millions of new fans from every corner of the globe. Those many millions of new fans have smashed attendance records, surged television ratings, sold out merchandise, and more. The marketability of professional female athletes has never been greater. Despite that, front offices have been stuck in the past, paying players a pittance in exchange for their physical gifts.
When the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) failed to reach an agreement with the league following the conclusion of the 2025 season, I became discouraged. After the league repeatedly rolled over deadline after deadline, losing precious time for an expansion draft, free agency, and training camp, my concerns grew. Right up until the agreement of the new CBA last week, I firmly believed we were destined for a lockout that would doom the season.
I am so truly, deeply thankful to be wrong.
With the WNBA collective bargaining agreement now safely in the rear-view mirror, I will resume my plans to cover the WNBA expansion Portland Fire here on this site. I will also begin producing videos, podcasts, and more. I have loved women’s sports all my life - as a media professional covering games big and small across our state, but also as a fan - and I can’t wait to break down the upcoming expansion draft, amateur draft, free agency, and professional women’s basketball returning to Portland.
Thank you for joining me here, following this coverage, and loving women’s sports with a fiery passion.
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Matt Bagley is a professional sports journalist with a passion for women’s sports. Outside of work, he cherishes quality time with his birth family, his chosen family, and one very pesky house panther.
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