RAJ Sports Opens $150 Million Joint Training Facility for Portland Thorns and Fire

Sports investment group RAJ Sports has unveiled a $150 million, 100,000-square-foot performance center in Portland, marking the first dedicated training compound engineered specifically to house both an NWSL team and a WNBA franchise under one roof.

The newly opened Kaiser Permanente Performance Center will serve as the everyday operational base for soccer club Portland Thorns FC and basketball franchise Portland Fire. While joint facilities are common across traditional men's leagues, custom-built, dual-sport compounds owned directly by multi-team operators remain exceptionally rare in the women's sporting landscape.

Custom Infrastructure for Two Leagues

The facility is split to accommodate the distinct operational calendars and physical demands of professional soccer and basketball. Both squads receive individual locker rooms and dedicated training zones, alongside shared communal amenities.

Reflecting a broader shift toward modern athlete support standards, the complex also includes family-oriented spaces such as designated lactation areas, private mothers' rooms, and an on-site children's room. For the Thorns, specific soccer-centric installations include a dedicated equipment and boot room.

Why It Matters

For decades, women's professional teams operated on shared municipal leases, university grounds, or secondary spaces retrofitted from men's organizations. The $150 million commitment in Portland underscores a structural shift in how owners approach asset value in women's sports.

As franchise valuations in both the NWSL and WNBA climb toward nine figures, proprietary training infrastructure is rapidly transitioning from a luxury perk to a baseline requirement. Facilities of this scale not only serve as key recruitment tools for top-tier talent, but they also anchor long-term enterprise value on the balance sheet well beyond game-day ticket sales and media rights.