PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Thorns and Fire staged a novel women’s sports doubleheader Saturday in the primary collaboration between the NWSL and WNBA groups.
The Thorns hosted the Utah Royals in a match between the highest two groups in the National Women’s Soccer League on Saturday afternoon, earlier than the enlargement Fire hosted Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in the night.
The groups hyped Saturday’s matches, promoting a ticket package deal to each occasions for $80. T-shirts had been offered that exclaimed “Portland Loves Women’s Sports.”
After the Thorns performed to a 2-2 draw with the Royals, midfielder Olivia Moultrie was headed straight to the Fire sport, the place she hoped to trade jerseys with Clark. But she finally wished a Fire win, too.
“Obviously, this city and women’s sports, like, that’s a match made in heaven,” Moultrie stated. “Honestly, I think it’s just really cool to be able to support our own team now, with the fire, awesome.”
The Fire gave Moultrie her want with a 100-84 victory.
The Thorns and the Fire share the identical homeowners, Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, who function the groups beneath the entity Raj Sports.
Fans show a banner at an NWSL soccer match between the Portland Thorns and the Utah Royals at Providence Park in Portland, Ore., Saturday, May 30, 2026. Credit: AP/Anne M. Peterson
“Just seeing the support that they show for both of our organizations, it means a lot. I think as just as a woman, you want that support. And just seeing where women’s basketball is going and growing and being able to know that the city’s behind us, it’s really cool,” Fire guard Sarah Ashlee Barker stated.
The Thorns, who’ve performed in Portland since 2013 as one of many founding groups of the NWSL, drew 20,053 followers. The Fire introduced a sellout crowd of 19,347 on the Moda Center.
The two groups will quickly share the nation’s first efficiency middle shared by pair {of professional} ladies’s groups in completely different sports. The $150 million middle, a repurposed former Nike facility on 12 acres west of Portland, is about to open Aug. 22.
“I hope in the future that we are always going to feel like we are one city and make sure we have two teams with one organization and one community with that,” Thorns coach Robert Vilahamn stated. “So I’m very much looking forward to the collaboration.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer