Portland Fire Inspired by Record Crowd
After Portland set a WNBA attendance record for the most fans at an expansion team's home opener, Fire players and coaches praised their fanbase.
Last night, the WNBA expansion Portland Fire played their first ever home game.
Despite the final result - a fifteen point loss to the Chicago Sky - the experience provides several takeaways. One of those takeaways is Portland’s ferocious homecourt advantage, which swung momentum on several occasions.
During the second half, Moda Center’s public address announced that 19,335 fans attended last night’s game, setting a new record for the most fans at a WNBA team’s first home opener.
After the loss, Fire forward Bridget Carleton raved about the intensity in the stands:
“It was incredible. To have a sellout, nineteen thousand, they were in it the whole game. We were down 13 at half and came out in the third quarter with so much energy, and the crowd was so into it. It was so much fun. We know they were excited about this game, about this season, and we felt that - we’ve been feeling it since we got to training camp - and today was just a great experience for everybody. So, we’re really thankful for them.”
Immediately after she spoke, Carleton’s teammate Sarah Ashlee Barker offered her two cents on the crowd:
“Yeah, the Fire Pit was really lit (Carleton laughs). It really was. (Both laugh) No, I mean like what BC [Bridget Carleton] said, just the fan support, and how loud it got in that arena tonight, when we came back in the third quarter, and even when we had a defensive stop with like one minute to go in the third quarter, that was probably one of the loudest things I’ve ever heard being on the court. So, just the energy they brought, they never gave up, they always continued to cheer. I think just leaning into that and having their support means a lot to us.”
For Carleton, last night’s energy has carried over into her everyday life:
“I always heard things here and there about Portland, and the women’s sports fandom there is here, but never knew too much about it, especially never really being on the west coast. I think this past week - feeling it on social media, feeling it in the city - like, going on a walk and people recognize me already, and I hadn’t even played a game yet, it was just incredible. The amount of support, how excited people were to see us, and meet us, and be a part of this experience, it’s been surreal.”
The Fire welcome their record-setting crowd back to Portland on Tuesday night, as the WNBA expansion team host the New York Liberty. Tip-off is slated for 7 PM PST.
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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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