Raj Sports, the Bhathal family’s sports investment platform, is building a dual practice facility for the Portland Thorns and its WNBA expansion team, which begins play in 2026. The privately funded, multi-phase project will create what appears to be the first pro sports training hub shared by two American women’s pro sports teams, costing in excess of $150M; the first phase, the training facility specifically, will cost $75M.
The 60,000-square-foot facility will be constructed in Hillsboro, Ore., northwest of Portland and is expected to open in the spring of 2026. Populous designed the facility, a repurposed existing office complex that was previously occupied by Nike. Raj Sports collaborated with Workspace Property Trust on the sustainable redevelopment of the property. It includes two full-sized soccer fields outside and two full-sized basketball courts indoors along with other team-specific spaces like locker rooms, coaches’ facilities, and film rooms. The facility’s shared amenities include a dining hall with a full-time chef and nutritionist positioned near the venue’s public-facing entrance.
“Now you have this facility the players call home,” said Raj Sports EVP/Strategic Growth Development Karina LeBlanc. “You walk in and on the left side you’ll have like the Olympic Village of eating, the biggest names of WNBA sitting down and eating with the biggest names of the NWSL.”
It’s an experience that LeBlanc likened to the Olympic village -- she played in five World Cups and two Olympics for the Canada Women’s National Soccer Team -- where she dined, on one occasion, with Serena and Venus Williams.
“You’re surrounded by high performing people. It’ll do the same thing for the staff, for the business,” LeBlanc said. “We’re going to have this opportunity where people can walk in and be like wow, this is the first ever, and this idea of what is now possible is now possible.“
Raj Sports — a subsidiary of private equity firm Raj Capital — bought the Thorns in Jan. 2024 for a then league record $63M, then was awarded a WNBA franchise in Sept. 2024 for a $125M expansion fee. The WNBA team begins play in 2026 at the Moda Center.
The practice facility, the latest in a recent spate of such projects specifically devoted to women’s pro sports teams, will sit on 12 acres and includes 6,100 square feet of offices for Raj Sports’ business operations. In addition to the courts and fields, the facility -- built by Hoffman Construction -- contains a 5,000-square-foot fitness center with an outdoor turf zone and a pilates and yoga room. Rehab and recovery elements include active recovery pools, and spaces devoted to hyperbaric and red-light therapy.
There are dedicated player family rooms, specific meeting spaces for each team, as well as private player parking and entry for convenience and security. Populous Senior Principal Sherri Priviterra said that a Thorns staff member told her, “I want when they come here for that to be the least stressful part of their day. I want it to be a professional environment but also for them to feel warm, comfortable and safe.”
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