Alex Bhathal (left(, Executive Chair, RAJ Sports, Mel Augustus, Global VP, Sports Marketing, Nike, Lisa Bhathal Merage, Governor, Portland Fire and Thonrs and Managing Partner, RAJ Sports
Naji Saker
At the Epicenter Week Women’s Global Sports Summit, presenting sponsor Nike announced a new partnership with RAJ Sports. RAJ, a prominent sports investment and management platform which owns the NWSL’s Portland Thorns and WNBA’s Portland Fire and is led by siblings Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal.
PORTLAND, OREGON – MAY 09: Fans watch Portland Fire player introductions against the Chicago Sky at Moda Center on May 09, 2026 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
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This highlights a significant strategic alliance between two major global brands in Nike and RAJ Sports, who are specifically impacting market dynamics, investment, and the future of women’s sports initiatives.
Ann Miller, Nike EVP of Global Sport Marketing said about the partnership, “RAJ Sports Group is building something special for women’s sport. This partnership is about showing up in meaningful ways for athletes, teams, and the community, and helping raise the bar for the industry overall.”
Lisa Bhathal Merage echoed Miller’s sentiment and excitment about the partnership stating, “Nike’s presence throughout Epicenter Week, and now as a partner to RAJ Sports, is a signal to the entire industry that Portland is where the future of women’s sport is being written.”
She continued, “Together, we’re bringing the most influential leaders, ideas, and movements in the game to one place, and showing the world what’s possible when you invest in women’s sport with intention.”
PORTLAND, OREGON – AUGUST 15: Caiya Hanks #7 of Portland Thorns FC celebrates scoring the team’s second goal during the NWSL match between Portland Thorns FC and Orlando Pride at Providence Park on August 15, 2026 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Rio Giancarlo/NWSL via Getty Images)
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Nike and RAJ Partnership Will Enhance Women and Girls Sports Performance Innovation
Nike Corporate Headquarters Building (Photo by mark peterson/Corbis via Getty Images)
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As part of the partnership, the two entities will be building an infrastructure built around challenging athletic performance standards that have many times been tested, constructed, and promoted based on boys and men.
Currently, only 6% of sport science research hones in exclusively on women.
Intentionally, this partnership will focus on providing women elite athletes resources and enhance athlete training spaces that include the support for year-round development.
At The Epicenter Women’s Global Sports Summit announcement, Mel Auguste, Global VP, Sports Marketing at Nike explained, “Our partnership will be centered on a few pillars, one of which will be us partnering with RAJ Sports to lend our expertise in sports and performance innovation so that we can build a women’s center performance focus that creates an environment that elevates how [women professional athletes] prepare, how they train, how they recover, and ultimately how they perform with insights at the center of it.”
As part of 2026 Epicenter Week, the Portland Fire and RAJ Sports revamped basketball court and hosted a clinic for young girls at Harriet Tubman Middle School in Portland, Oregon.
Allison Smith, Forbes
Additionally, the partnership will create pathways for young girls to continue to see sports as an opportunity to grow and expand, as research notes that girls are still disportionately participating and staying in sport compared to their boy peers. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, by the age of 14, girls are dropping out of sport at twice the rate of boys.
Again, this partnership is important, as research has consistently found that investing in girls sports participation, visibiity, and mentorship results in the next leaders in society, as 94% of women c-suite executives played sports.
Projecting sign with Nike swoosh logo outside retail store against blue sky and high-rise buildings, San Francisco, California, May 13, 2025. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
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“Partnering with Nike allows us to deepen that commitment by innovating together for women athletes, expanding access to sport for young girls, and supporting our community through joint initiatives and programs that advance Portland, ” said Bhathal Merage.
Together, Nike and RAJ Sports are signaling that the next phase of women’s sports growth will be defined not just by participation and visibility, but by strategic investment at the highest levels of global sport which underscores a broader shift in women’s sports: from an emerging opportunity to a global business priority.
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