Photo Copyright Soobum Im for USA TODAY Sports
The sale of the Portland Thorns to the Bhathal family, through family-owned RAJ Sports, has closed. The Bhathal family bought the Thorns for $63 million, per a National Women’s Soccer League source. The family also committed to building the team a new training facility and signed a lease at Providence Park through 2035.
Lisa Bhathal Merage will serve as the controlling owner and primary NWSL governor of the Thorns, with her brother, Alex, serving as the alternate governor. The family already holds a major sports investment, the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.
The $63 million sale of the Thorns sets a new NWSL record and keeps what has been the league’s most successful franchise historically in downtown Portland long-term. Peregrine Sports LLC, led operationally by Merritt Paulson, owned the Thorns since the league’s inception in late 2012. The Thorns led the NWSL in attendance — often by exponents more than most teams — every season until 2022, when expansion into California…
