Commentary: Why buying into Portland Thorns and the NWSL was ‘a no-brainer’ for one family

LOS ANGELES TIMES

https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/story/2024-01-23/portland-thorns-brother-sister-owners-nwsl

BY KEVIN BAXTER

JAN 23, 2024

When Raj Bhathal immigrated to the U.S. from India in 1960, he gave up the old world for the new, marrying a California beach girl and founding a swimwear company. 

“He’s always been a trailblazer and a pioneer,” said his daughter Lisa. “He was the only one out of all his brothers and sisters not to have an arranged marriage.” 

But the old world ways were never far away. So when Lisa and her brother Alex, who spun the swimwear company into a capital management firm named after their father, began mulling an investment in women’s soccer, they weren’t sure how he would react.  

“He grew up in India [at] a time when women just did not have the same rights or respect as men,” said Lisa Bhathal Merage, who broached the subject over dinner. Still, she wasn’t surprised by his response. “He said, ‘I really believe in women’s sports’,” she said. “It’s so cool to have an older gentleman from India, that grew up in such a different way, say, ‘Yes, this is the future.’” 

So this month with Raj Bhathal’s blessing, Newport Beach-based RAJ Capital bought the Portland Thorns for an NWSL-record $63 million, a price the siblings consider a bargain. 

“The Portland Thorns are iconic,” Bhathal Merage said of the team, an original NWSL franchise which holds league records for regular-season wins (109), goals (374), championships (three) and overall average attendance. “It’s kind of like buying the New York Yankees of women’s soccer. That was really how we looked at it. 

“The players are the best and the fans are the best. It was a no-brainer for us.”