# Lisa Bhathal Merage & Alex Bhathal: Building the Future of Women’s Sports in Portland

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/epicenter-of-women-s-sports-with-karina-leblanc-7474748/lisa-bhathal-merage-alex-bhathal-building-the-future-of-women-s-sports-in-portland
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/epicenter-of-women-s-sports-with-karina-leblanc-7474748/lisa-bhathal-merage-alex-bhathal-building-the-future-of-women-s-sports-in-portland.md
Podcast: [Epicenter of Women’s Sports with Karina LeBlanc](https://stenobird.com/podcast/epicenter-of-women-s-sports-with-karina-leblanc-7474748)
Published: 2025-09-04T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://epicenter-womens-sports-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/lisa-bhathal-merage-alex-bhathal-building-the-future-of-womens-sports-in-portland-ihVPCPq3
Audio file: https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/68b0c5a8-66f9-43ce-a5a1-cf5f7b3649cc/episodes/2571c0ef-3217-4bb1-8fa5-3a9d40dca369/audio/c75811be-4dfc-456b-9ee0-33f17a9c71ce/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=thzy9PgW
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/epicenter-of-women-s-sports-with-karina-leblanc-7474748/episodes/lisa-bhathal-merage-alex-bhathal-building-the-future-of-women-s-sports-in-portland
Duration seconds: 3380

## Resource

In their first-ever podcast appearance, Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal—co-owners of RAJ Sports and the driving force behind the Portland Thorns and the WNBA’s Portland Fire—share their story and their vision for the future of women’s sports. From defining family and business moments to their career paths that led to becoming the only ownership group in the U.S. with two professional women’s teams, Lisa and Alex open up about why women’s sports represent one of the fastest-growing opportunities in business today—and why they believe this is just the beginning. The siblings and business partners talk candidly about why women’s sports, why now, and why Portland—sharing their vision for making the city the global epicenter of women’s sports. Listeners will hear what fans, brands, and investors should know about this historic moment—and, beyond the business, get a personal look at who Lisa and Alex are as leaders, innovators, and family. Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/epicenter-of-women-s-sports-with-karina-leblanc-7474748/episodes/lisa-bhathal-merage-alex-bhathal-building-the-future-of-women-s-sports-in-portland/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/epicenter-of-women-s-sports-with-karina-leblanc-7474748/lisa-bhathal-merage-alex-bhathal-building-the-future-of-women-s-sports-in-portland.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.