Family Traditions Fuel Portland Fire’s Momentum
At every Portland Fire home game, siblings Alex Bassar and Lisa Bassar Melarag follow personal rituals that reflect their deep-rooted family culture. Alex opts for a red shirt instead of the usual black, a practice born from past losses while wearing black. Lisa always occupies seat number 11. These habits echo their father, Raj Bassar, an Indian immigrant and established sports investor who famously believed a twitching left eye signaled incoming wealth.
Transitioning from Swimwear Manufacturing to Sports Ownership
Raj and his wife Martha founded Raj Manufacturing, a swimwear company based in California. Raised in Los Angeles, Alex and Lisa grew up supporting local sports teams according to the seasons: the Rams in fall, the Lakers in winter, and the Angels in spring and summer. Martha herself was a multi-sport athlete and played college golf at UCLA.
In the late 1980s, Raj broadened his sports interests by becoming one of the first franchisees in the World League of American Football (WLAF), part of the NFL’s early international expansion efforts. Although the WLAF eventually transformed into NFL Europe and domestic teams dissolved, this experience planted the seeds for his children’s future in professional sports investment.
Alex and Lisa took over the family swimwear business in 2006 and pivoted towards sports ventures a decade later under RAJ Sports. In 2013, they acquired a minority stake in the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, gaining critical operational insights and industry connections according to Alex.
Strategic Investments Amplify Portland’s Women’s Sports Profile
In early 2024, RAJ Sports purchased the National Women’s Soccer League’s Portland Thorns FC for $63 million. By September, they expanded their portfolio by acquiring the newly established WNBA expansion team, the Portland Fire, for $125 million. The Fire drew an average attendance of approximately 14,500 in their inaugural season, ranking fourth across the league’s 15 teams, and rapidly escalated the franchise valuation to $380 million.
Supporting these teams, RAJ Sports partnered with Nike to inaugurate a $150 million Kaiser Permanente Integrated Training Center, delivering state-of-the-art facilities for basketball and soccer teams. Alex expressed pride in advancing women’s sports in a city like Portland, highlighting the long-term vision behind the investments.
Lisa attributes their foresight on the ascendancy of women’s sports to their extensive experience in fashion, coupled with their involvement in the Kings’ management which deepened their understanding of the sports business. She rejects early skepticism that women’s sports were just a passing trend, asserting it to be an inevitable growth sector.
Leveraging Portland’s Sporting Ecosystem and Market Conditions
Portland’s significance as home to Adidas North America and Nike’s global headquarters provides RAJ Sports with unique synergies bridging sports and lifestyle industries. Lisa noted their simultaneous engagement with the Thorns and internal planning for basketball investments as reflective of this dynamic.
RAJ Sports stepped into the Portland Fire ownership following the unsuccessful bid by Kirk Brown, co-founder of ZoomInfo. Lisa highlighted the confluence of timing, location, and community passion as crucial factors supporting their acquisition and ongoing growth.
Recently, RAJ Sports and Nike co-hosted the second annual Epicenter Sports Week, convening stakeholders to discuss women’s sports development. Alex acknowledged existing challenges around expansion, compensation, and fair participation but views their ownership of two growing teams as an asset that offers operational experience and resource leverage. "The sports industry is always evolving, and maintaining a clear strategic path is essential," he said.
The Portland Fire’s progress exemplifies both a successful sports investment case and emerging opportunities within women’s professional athletics. The Bassar family, through RAJ Sports, continues to transform the local sports ecosystem by drawing on their distinctive background and commitment to fostering women’s sports.