When the WNBA’s commissioner labels your city “an epicenter of women’s sports,” there’s pressure to play to that standard.
Last week, during The Epicenter Women’s Global Sports Summit, RAJ Sports general manager Karina LeBlanc put in the legwork to show brands, fans, media, and the world at large what Portland, Oregon, had to offer all levels of women’s sports. Led by siblings Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage, RAJ Sports initially formed when it took ownership of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings in 2013, entering the Portland market in January 2024 when it bought the National Women’s Soccer League’s Portland Thorns for $63 million.
In September, RAJ Sports was awarded a WNBA expansion franchise for a $125 million fee, and, during the announcement at Portland’s Moda Center, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert remarked that it “has become an epicenter of women’s sports, and the people of Portland have established this city as a premier destination.”
Much as RAJ Sports did after the Thorns purchase—when it brought in additional investors including Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle, the NBA’s Phoenix Suns co-owner Sam Garvin, former NFL quarterback Joey Harrington, and Olympic medalists Ashton and Brianne Theisen-Eaton—it approached the business and sports communities and made the case for the Thorns, its newly named Portland Fire WNBA team, and women’s sports infrastructure.
Teaming with Nike, the NWSL, and the WNBA, RAJ Sports expanded on its “Thorns For All” community platform and held a community day at the Thorns’ Providence Park home stadium that let local businesses and organizations line the concourse, all while matches kicked off between the Thorns and Seattle Reign developmental academy teams and the Thorns and Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds’ women’s team.
Meanwhile, the organization also hosted a livestreamed fireside chat with Fire interim president Clare Hamill and invited the best youth teams in the world to Providence Park for the Nike U15 Global Premier Cup, just before a friendly Thorns-Reign match.
The center of the week’s events was an invitation-only Women’s Sports Innovation Summit held at the Tiger Woods Center at Nike World Headquarters just outside of Portland. Amid four discussions centered on the value of women’s sports leadership, investment, research, and athletes—featuring University of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, Nike CEO Elliott Hill, and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden—RAJ Sports’ LeBlanc implored the crowd to think critically, speak with each other during breaks, and left them with a call to action after each session.