File - From left, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Lisa Bhathal Merage, Alex Bhathal and former Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler at the announcement of Portland receiving a WNBA team at the Moda Center on Sept. 18, 2024.
Joni Land / OPB
The Portland Thorns. Oregon’s incoming WNBA team. And — the Portland Trail Blazers?
It’s a question the Bhathal family, owners of Portland’s NWSL and new WNBA teams, may be asking themselves since the Rose City’s NBA franchise was put up for sale last week.
A spokesperson for RAJ Sports, the sports investment arm of the company run by siblings Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal, acknowledged the opportunity without committing to a response.
“RAJ Sports is aware of the recent developments regarding the Portland Trail Blazers,” a representative said in an emailed statement to OPB. “As a company, we regularly evaluate strategic opportunities across the sports and real estate landscape, and we approach all such considerations with diligence and discretion. At this time, we have nothing further to share.”
The Bhathal siblings have quickly become a powerful force in Portland professional sports through their investment company, RAJ Capital. The company was started in 2006 to acquire the family’s California-based swimwear empire. Since then, RAJ Capital has invested in sports teams, real estate, housing, technology and a variety of other industries.
In 2024, the firm’s sports investment business, RAJ Sports, bought the Portland Thorns. Later that year, the WNBA announced the Bhathals as owners of Portland’s expansion team, which doesn’t have a name yet but is set to start play next year.
The Bhathal family already owns part of another NBA team, the Sacramento Kings. While rules around NBA ownership have been tweaked in recent years to allow for the involvement of private equity, owning more than one team is generally not allowed in the league. That makes it likely the Bhathals would have to divest from the Kings before buying a stake in another NBA franchise.
Any individual or group with ambitions to buy the Blazers will likely have to put up $4 billion or more. The estate of the team’s late owner, Paul Allen, is selling the team at auction. Before the sale can be finalized, the NBA Board of Governors, which includes a representative from each of the current 30 teams, would have to approve it.
The Bhathal family paid just over $60 million for the Thorns and $125 million for the incoming WNBA team. RAJ Sports also broke ground last month on a $150 million training facility for the two pro teams.
