Clare Hamill, president of Oregon's incoming WNBA team, welcome's Vanja Černivec as general manager of the Portland Fire during a press event at the Moda Center on Aug. 26, 2025. Černivec has spent the last year as vice president of basketball operations for San Francisco's pro women's basketball team.
Kyra Buckley / OPB
The Portland Fire are bringing on a general manager with fresh experience growing a successful professional women’s franchise from the ground up.
The Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s newest team to start play, garnered more than 20,000 season ticket deposits in their first year — and with just over two weeks left in the regular season, are on track for a trip to the playoffs.
It appears the Portland Fire hope to capitalize on some of that success with the hiring of Vanja Černivec as general manager. Since July 2024, Černivec has experienced the inner workings of a WNBA expansion team firsthand as the Valkyries’ vice president of basketball operations.
She will join the Portland Fire on Sept. 15. The team starts play in May 2026.
Černivec said her time with the Valkyries, and her experience with the London Lions pro basketball team, showed her how to build a team’s culture.
“But I also don’t believe in copy-paste,” Černivec told reporters Tuesday at the Moda Center. “I think every city is different, every community is different, so I think we need to carve out our own path and just build our own destiny.”
She said launching a franchise means connecting with the current fan base in Portland while also welcoming in new supporters.
“But most importantly, we want to create an environment for athletes where they can not only survive but thrive,” Černivec said.
The team Černivec is departing, the Valkyries, started play in the 2025 season as the first expansion team since the Atlanta Dream tipped off in 2008. Since then, the women’s league has grown exponentially in popularity.
Vanja Černivec
Courtesy of Berk Communications
In the last few years the WNBA has consistently broken attendance and viewership records, only to break them again the following season. In 2025, TV viewership is up more than 20% from last season, and attendance more than 10%.
Meanwhile, Portland has emerged as a hub for women’s sports. Portland’s professional women’s soccer team, the Thorns, welcomes tens of thousands of fans each season. The NCAA Women’s March Madness tournament hosted more than 12,000 fans at the Moda Center in 2024, with plans to return in coming years.
And in Sept. 2024 Portlanders learned professional women’s basketball would return to the Rose City in the form of the WNBA’s 15th team. The original Portland Fire played in the city from 2000-2002 before they were forced to fold during a time of contraction for the league.
Siblings Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal own the new team through their investment firm, RAJ Sports. The pair also owns the Portland Thorns.
The rollout of the Portland Fire has been a bit bumpy at times. In April the team named longtime sports and apparel leader Inky Son as president, only to announce her departure in June. Former Nike executive Clare Hamill took over as interim president and continues to serve in that role.
As general manager, Černivec will lead the search for a head coach and help build the Fire’s roster of players. She’s held similar roles internationally with the London Lions, and has worked for the NBA’s Chicago Bulls as an international scout. Černivec also played basketball professionally in Slovenia.
“As a foundational leader in this new chapter for the Fire,” said team co-owner Bhathal Merage in a statement announcing Černivec’s hire, “she brings the experience, integrity, and passion for advancing the women’s game that this moment demands.”
