Raj Sports EVP Karina LeBlanc shares key details on second annual Epicenter Week

The GIST: Today, Raj Sports is announcing exclusively through The GIST that it’s bringing back Epicenter Week, a five-day summer celebration in Portland promoting its NWSL and WNBA franchises. But Epicenter Week is much more than that — and it’s bigger and better this year thanks to prominent sponsor and nearby neighbor Nike.

• Raj Sports EVP strategic growth and development Karina LeBlanc spoke with us yesterday about what makes Epicenter Week (and Raj Sports specifically) unique in terms of celebrating the women’s game. There’s nothing quite like it.

The details: Epicenter Week will take place from August 19th to 23rd in Portland, OR, where Raj Sports will host a slew of community programming, corporate events, and sports games (of course). Last year was a smash: Over 530 guests attended and 30K fans participated in 17 events over the course of four days, generating $225K in economic impact for the Rose City.

• This year has even more to offer — people can attend both Thorns and Fire games and witness the opening of the Kaiser Permanente Performance Center, the only practice facility shared by an NWSL and WNBA team. There will also be a gala honoring local women’s sports heroes and a women’s sports global summit at Nike’s Beaverton headquarters.

What’s unique? Activating at every facet of the women’s game: From the community and fan side of things all the way to the leadership and corporate level. LeBlanc’s mantra to make sure they hit all their marks is to “educate on the Thursday, then we collaborate on the Friday, we activate on the Saturday, and we elevate on the Sunday.”

• She wants to prove Portland earned its reputation as an unmatched women’s sports hub. Over 87K fans have watched the Thorns IRL this season, while over 70K total fans have been to Fire games (including 19K for their home opener). LeBlanc says Portland’s passionate fans are the differentiator, and Epicenter Week lets others experience the magic — and try to replicate it.

Zooming out: LeBlanc bills this as an opportunity for everyone to come and see what’s special about Portland’s sports scene — and while they’re the only city with a shared NWSL and WNBA ownership group, every city can take lessons on the power of collaboration and activation through any and all means.

• Stay tuned: There are a lot more sponsors involved, including local PDX ones, but Nike plays a major role in all this. “Nike was the right partner and the biggest partner from the get go,” LeBlanc said. Having corporate support from the sports giant Nike makes a big difference and helps sell Portland as the true “epicenter of women’s sports.” Shaking things up.