If Portland Thorns proprietor Alex Bhathal isn’t noticed on sport day striding round Windfall Park in his signature crimson Moncler polo, black slacks, and customized black-and-red Jordans, begin worrying. Not as a result of he would ever miss a house match, however as a result of if he reveals up in the rest, his sister and enterprise accomplice Lisa Bhathal Merage will ship him straight dwelling to vary.
“Seven wins, 4 attracts, no losses,” he informed The Athletic earlier than the staff’s 1-0 NWSL quarterfinal win over the San Diego Wave. “They joke within the entrance workplace, ‘Is Alex sporting his crimson shirt?’”
Commercial
“What retains me up at evening is whether or not he’ll present up sporting it,” Bhathal Merage laughs. “Right here’s hoping Montclair by no means discontinues these polos. And albeit, Alex, you must have a sponsorship from Moncler.”
She has her personal game-day gear. “I’ve a bracelet that has thorns on it on one facet and clean on the opposite facet,” she says. “On sport days, I all the time placed on my thorny facet for good luck.”
On Sunday, the Bhathals’ fortunate charms have been on full show. They edged previous the Wave at dwelling to clinch a semifinal spot in opposition to the Washington Spirit on Saturday, a well-earned reward after a whirlwind of a season. It was a second value celebrating.
Lisa Bhathal Merage and her brother Alex, via their RAJ Sports activities funding automobile, entered the Portland sports activities scene in late 2023 with the $63 million purchase of the NWSL’s Thorns from Merritt Paulson. The choice to promote from Paulson got here simply two months after the membership dismissed two prime executives implicated in the league’s systemic abuse scandal that concerned the membership’s former head coach, Paul Riley.
Commercial
Initially, the siblings solid a large web, exploring investments in Main League Soccer, growth franchises and past. However one go to to Windfall Park sealed their determination. What began as due diligence shortly was conviction.
It was Bhathal Merage who first skilled the eagerness of the Rose Metropolis Riveters. She took her husband and son to a Thorns match in 2023.
“It was magic,” she recalled. “You’ll be able to’t manufacture that ambiance. The fervour in Windfall Park is genuine. You’re feeling it in your bones.”
On the time of the sale, the membership was in a fragile state. Gamers have been sad, and followers have been protesting week after week. However the Bhathals noticed what Paulson had constructed: probably the most profitable staff in NWSL historical past, a perennial contender, and a fan base that fills a stadium week after week. “You’ll be able to’t purchase fandom,” Bhathal Merage stated. “You’ll be able to construct a brand new staff from scratch, however you possibly can’t construct this.”
Commercial
This yr is their document ninth straight playoff look, however getting right here feels miraculous.
Portland entered 2025 with a roster overhaul in contrast to any in membership historical past, together with the retirements of Christine Sinclair and Becky Sauerbrunn, who left a management and expertise void. Star ahead Sophia Wilson (previously Smith) missed the yr on maternity leave, whereas Morgan Weaver, Marie Muller, and Nicole Payne have been sidelined earlier than kickoff with long-term accidents. Midseason blows adopted, as rookie Caiya Hanks and newcomer Julie Dufour suffered anterior cruciate ligament tears, solely deepening the problem. Nonetheless, coach Rob Gale rebuilt round a youthful core, with Olivia Moultrie, Deyna Castellanos, Jessie Fleming, and captain Sam Coffey protecting Portland’s championship hopes alive.
The Bhathals knew it might not be simple, however they’ve taken an intent perspective in the direction of being house owners.
“One factor we’ve discovered from our mother and father’ involvement in sports activities is we don’t view ourselves as house owners,” Bhathal Merage stated. “We consider ourselves as stewards of a beloved neighborhood asset.”
Commercial
In Portland, the place the Thorns are as a lot an establishment as a sports activities membership, stewardship comes with excessive expectations and accountability.
“The mindset from the highest down with how we create the tradition within the group. As a corporation, we worth modern, forward-thinking. We like profitable. We try for excellence,” she stated. “One factor our mother and father all the time taught us is to test your ego on the door. It’s not about you, it’s about every little thing else.”
Their love of sports activities began early, lengthy earlier than stability sheets and boardrooms. Their mom, Martha Bhathal, was a multi-sport athlete who performed golf at UCLA, and their childhood was stuffed with packed stadiums: the Los Angeles Rams, Lakers, and Angels. These moments set the tone for a household tradition constructed on competitors, loyalty, and exhibiting up.
Their father, Raj Bhathal, helped construct a diversified portfolio throughout actual property, personal fairness, and sports activities. He had already been concerned in NBA possession for greater than a decade, serving as the biggest minority proprietor within the Sacramento Kings’ group and as Vivek Ranadive’s alternate governor, the bulk proprietor. The siblings grew up watching him take the lengthy view.
Commercial
“We discovered there are not any shortcuts,” Alex Bhathal stated.
“We perceive the long-term nature of being concerned within the sports activities world and taking a long-term strategy to establishing a basis that may be constructed upon over time. You construct nice enterprises brick by brick.”
Doubling down on their guess in Portland, in 2024, in addition they purchased the WNBA franchise, Portland Fireplace, for $125 million.
Regardless of residing in California, Lisa and Alex are in Portland for practically each dwelling match. They arrive early — an hour earlier than kickoff — to observe the warm-ups, greet gamers, and have interaction with their employees.
“Girls’s sports activities take extra work,” Bhathal Merage says. “You’ll be able to’t telephone it in.”
Commercial
Their suite isn’t a company house; it’s a household one. “Our households are there, however so is our employees, our GM, our president. They’re an extension of our household.”
The most important venture they’ve taken on since taking on the Thorns is the state-of-the-art dual-sport performance center, set to open subsequent season, which has expanded past its authentic 63,000 sq. toes and would be the solely dual-sport skilled girls’s facility on the planet. Every staff may have its personal entrance, with two full-size soccer pitches and two basketball courts for the WNBA facet.
The groups will share two key areas: an elite coaching core, with separate fitness center and restoration areas, and a shared eating corridor designed to foster connection, tradition, and neighborhood throughout each groups.
A serious focus of the middle is advancing girls’s well being, with an emphasis on damage prevention and contributing to much-needed analysis in feminine athlete care. The middle is designed via a feminine lens, that includes restoration rooms, a mom’s house, a magnificence studio, a vitamin lab and particulars like tiles and finishes chosen by the gamers. That final half is essential. Wilson prompt a mom’s chair for the household space, just like one she has in her dwelling.
Commercial
The venture will price greater than $150 million and is financed privately by the Bhathals.
Sports activities groups are pricey operations, however the returns have been swift. Since taking on, they’ve seen sponsorship income surge by 300 p.c. Partnering with Legends International, the main venue administration and leisure firm, has strengthened every little thing from hospitality to partnership technique. Earlier this yr, they secured a multiyear take care of dwelling safety firm Ring as their front-of-jersey sponsor, probably the most profitable jersey partnership in league historical past, in accordance with the staff.
It’s not all clean crusing, although. Past the Thorns’ playoff push and hopes of including new {hardware} lies an intriguing offseason forward.
After final yr’s roster overhaul, the club has locked in Moultrie through 2029. The large query now could be whether or not star forwards Wilson, nonetheless on maternity depart, and Weaver, recovering from knee surgical procedure, will return subsequent season.
Commercial
For now, the vibe across the Thorns is obvious: cautious optimism and loads of perception that their greatest days are nonetheless to return.
“We’ve performed a variety of work attempting to develop higher processes when it comes to recruitment and philosophy and rules,” stated Jeff Agoos, who joined the staff in January because the president and common supervisor of soccer operations.
“In sports activities, you have a look at week to week, whether or not we win on Saturday, however we’re additionally what the following 10 years seem like. Our aim as a corporation is to be a mid-market unicorn with a billion-dollar valuation.”
Alex Bhathal, the alternate governor, is satisfied that development is forward, each for the Thorns and the league. “However we’re in early innings,” he stated.
Commercial
“You’ll be able to spend some huge cash in sports activities, and you’ll waste some huge cash in sports activities,” Bhathal stated, “however you may as well be very focused while you make vital investments that may then reap long-term rewards for the success of the franchise.”
This text initially appeared in The Athletic.
Portland Thorns, NWSL, Sports activities Enterprise, Girls’s Soccer
2025 The Athletic Media Firm
