Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage are betting that Portland can become a long-term powerhouse in women’s sport after turning the city’s new WNBA franchise into one of the league’s early success stories.
The siblings’ Portland Fire have attracted an average of about 14,500 fans per game during their inaugural season, giving the expansion team the fourth-highest attendance among the WNBA’s 15 franchises. The club is now valued at about $380 million, according to figures cited by Fortune.
For the owners, however, success is measured in more than balance sheets and attendance figures. Before games, Bhathal wears a red shirt that he believes brings luck, having abandoned his usual black clothing after it coincided with two defeats. His sister sits in seat 11 of her usual row.
The rituals reflect the influence of their father, Raj Bhathal, who emigrated from India to the United States in 1960 and built a family business empire with their mother, Martha. One of the superstitions he passed on was that a twitching left eye meant money was on its way.
Portland Fire owners expand their investment
Through their family investment firm, RAJ Sports, the Bhathals bought the NWSL’s Portland Thorns for a reported $63 million in early 2024. Later that year, they paid $125 million for control of Portland’s WNBA expansion franchise, which began playing in 2026.
The Fire opened their debut season at the Moda Center on May 9, hosting the Chicago Sky. The organisation has since positioned itself as part of a broader investment in Portland’s women’s sporting infrastructure.
Last month, RAJ Sports opened the $150 million Kaiser Permanente Performance Center, a shared facility for the Fire and the Thorns. The 100,000-square-foot complex is designed specifically around the needs of professional female athletes, combining training, medical care, rehabilitation, recovery and community facilities.
Lisa Bhathal Merage helped design the centre, which has been described by the club as the first dual-purpose professional women’s basketball and football performance facility of its kind. Kaiser Permanente is the teams’ official medical provider and team physician.
“We know that things are going to take time. But we also knew that we were going to surprise some people, and I think we’ve done that,” Alex Bhathal said. “We’re really grateful and appreciative of being able to do this in a city like Portland, where it is the global epicentre of women’s sports.”
From swimwear manufacturing to sports ownership
The Bhathals’ move into sports followed decades in the family’s swimwear business. Raj and Martha established Raj Manufacturing in Southern California after arriving in the US, and their children grew up surrounded by the area’s major professional teams, including the Los Angeles Rams, Lakers and Angels.
Martha was an accomplished multi-sport athlete who played golf at UCLA. Raj’s interest in sport developed into ownership when, in the late 1980s, he became involved in the World League of American Football after reading about the NFL’s international ambitions.
Alex and Lisa took over the family’s manufacturing company in 2006 as part of a succession plan. Their first significant move into major American sport came in 2013, when RAJ Sports acquired a minority stake in the Sacramento Kings. Raj and Alex remain involved with the NBA club, while Raj serves as an alternate governor and vice-chairman.
“We grew up with our parents as examples to us for how you show up in the world, not only in business but within a community,” Lisa Bhathal Merage said.
Alex said the Kings investment gave the family an understanding of the commercial and operational side of professional sport, as well as relationships that later helped them pursue full ownership of teams.
The siblings now see women’s sport as a central part of that strategy. Lisa said their background in fashion and sports lifestyle businesses helped them recognise the growth potential of women’s leagues before the current surge in attention and investment.
“Some people at that time were calling it a ‘moment’, and I absolutely disagree with that. It’s about the rise and the future of women’s sports,” she said.
Portland’s sporting identity was a major factor in the decision to invest. The city is home to Adidas North America, while Nike’s global headquarters are nearby in Beaverton. The Bhathals also point to the strength of the local fan base and the city’s history of supporting women’s teams.
RAJ Sports and Nike recently held the second annual Epicenter Sports Week in Portland, bringing together figures from across women’s sport. For the Bhathals, running a basketball team and a football club in the same market provides an opportunity to share knowledge between athletes, staff and supporters.
“In the business of sports, there’s always something crazy that happens almost every day,” Alex said. “It’s important to backstop that against a clear direction on what we’re trying to build.”
