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Bhathals: See Opportunity in ‘Epicenter of Women’s Sports’

The Orange County-based RAJ Sports is changing the game of team ownership by altering the course of two American cities.

Newport Beach-based RAJ Sports, who won big as owners of the Sacramento Kings, is now betting that Portland will become a hotbed for women’s professional sports.

Owners Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage, a brother and sister team, made a splash in September by buying the latest expansion franchise of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). They already own the Portland Thorns FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

“Portland is the epicenter of women’s sports,” Lisa told the Business Journal. “Portland has backed female teams and athletes for years.”

“When we saw there might be an opportunity to have a platform to have women’s soccer and women’s basketball under the same ownership umbrella, it just made all the sense in the world,” Alex said.

The brother and sister duo are becoming a force in the sports world as their company is the only one in the nation to have both women’s soccer and basketball franchises in the same city. In 2013, the family became part owners of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, whose value has risen seven-fold to $3.7 billion, according to Forbes. The pair helped spur multi-billion investments into the downtown Sacramento area that surrounds the Kings’ basketball arena.

For all these reasons, the Business Journal is naming the brother and sister as Businesspersons of the Year in the sports category. Alex was previously honored in 2023 with a Business Journal Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award.

American Sports Fan

Father Raj Bhathal moved from India in 1960 to Los Angeles, where he met their mother, Marta, a native of California.

Raj “fell in love with American sports and the culture” while Marta herself was an athlete, having competed as a golfer at UCLA.

The parents began RAJ Swim, which specialized in swimwear in Orange County.
“Lisa and I have grown up in a family that’s been in business for some time,” Alex told the Business Journal.

The Bhathal family has long been prominent in Orange County business circles.
Lisa’s father-in-law is Paul Merage, creator of Hot Pockets that sold for $2.6 billion to Nestle; Paul Merage is the namesake of the UC Irvine business school.

Alex is also the senior operating partner of San Juan Capistrano-based RX3 Growth Partners, a consumer growth fund co-founded by legendary Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers as well as Byron Roth and Nate Raabe.

The siblings have turned their family office into a scalable investment platform called Revitate that is open to outside investors with a focus on the three investment verticals they know best: real estate, sports and consumer.

Building a Sports Empire

The family got involved in sports not only as fans and participants but also on the business side. The first foray was around 1990 when their parents became the first franchise owners – the Orlando Thunder – in the World League of American Football.

While that league eventually folded, ownership of the team proved worthwhile.

“Through that experience, our dad specifically developed a relationship in the sporting world, having sat on a number of NFL committees, and those relationships became invaluable,” Alex said.

That networking culminated in the Bhathals joining Vivek Ranadive as principal co-owners of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings in 2013.

Alex said the experience of transforming and revitalizing a portion of downtown Sacramento through the Kings and its new arena inspired him and his sister to pursue other sport business interests.

The siblings eyed the rise of interest in women’s sports. Last year, the women’s soccer league attracted more than 2 million people.

“We’ve been looking into soccer for a while but hadn’t found the right opportunity for us. When we heard about the Thorns, it became very interesting,” Lisa said.

The team was founded in 2012 and has won three league championships and one Challenge Cup.

“The Thorns are considered the crown jewel of Portland,” Lisa said.

What put Lisa over the top, though, wasn’t what she saw on paper but instead her experience attending a match.

“I was shocked and mesmerized with the fans and supporters in Portland, it was like no other,” Lisa said. “If you haven’t seen a game in Providence Park, you are missing out, because it is a magical experience.”

Alex and Lisa, with the support of their dad, ultimately won the competitive bidding process in 2023. The OregonLive website, citing unidentified sources, said the Bhathals paid $63 million for the team, a record for the league.

“We kind of look at it as investing into the New York Yankees of the women’s soccer world,” Lisa said.

As Alex and Lisa were closing their deal for the Thorns in 2023, they heard about the WNBA’s interest for an expansion franchise in Portland.

Both franchises are being spearheaded by Lisa. The Portland team, which doesn’t yet have a name, will take the court in 2026.

The siblings, who are also big fans of the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Angels, said they don’t plan to move to Portland.

“We consider ourselves not owners; we consider ourselves stewards of a beloved community,” Lisa said.

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Sonia Chung
Sonia Chung
Sonia Chung joined the Orange County Business Journal in 2021 as their Marketing Creative Director. In her role she creates all visual content as it relates to the marketing needs for the sales and events teams. Her responsibilities include the creation of marketing materials for six annual corporate events, weekly print advertisements, sales flyers in correspondence to the editorial calendar, social media graphics, PowerPoint presentation decks, e-blasts, and maintains the online presence for Orange County Business Journal’s corporate events.
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