Browsing: owners

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  Baxter HolmesDec 9, 2025, 07:32 PM ET

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  Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) is a senior writer for ESPN Digital and Print, focusing on the NBA. He has covered the Lakers, the Celtics and previously worked for The Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times.

A less-redacted court filing in a lawsuit against Mat Ishbia includes new financial details that two Phoenix Suns minority owners say could threaten Ishbia’s majority ownership of the team.

The filing, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN on Tuesday, is from a lawsuit filed Nov. 24 in Delaware State Court by attorneys representing Scott Seldin and Andy Kohlberg, two Suns minority owners. Ishbia’s spokesman said the filing contains “nothing new” and that its claims are “ridiculous.”

The lawsuit against Ishbia accuses him of financial misconduct, including using the team as a “personal piggy bank.” Ishbia, who bought the Suns in 2023, has denied such allegations.

The battles between the Suns minority owners and Ishbia can be traced back to September 2024, when Kohlberg began negotiating a buyout with an adviser to Ishbia. Seldin, meanwhile, didn’t seek a buyout. Kohlberg’s talks continued into 2025, and he asked for a response from Ishbia on June 1.

The next day, Ishbia held a $250 million capital call raise — in which investors are asked to make actual payments on their financial commitments — and “threatened the minority owners with a punitive dilution of their ownership interests” if they failed to fund it by June 12, according to the new filing. As part of the raise, new units of ownership would be issued at $10 million per unit — a figure that Seldin and Kohlberg say was far from the valuation three months prior, when Ishbia bought units of the Suns from minority owners at $198 million per unit.

Under protest, the two minority owners say, they paid their portion of the capital call raise.

According to the filing, Ishbia said the capital call raise wasn’t fully funded and set up another capital call raise on July 8, with another 10-day deadline.

Again, Seldin and Kohlberg say, they paid their portion under protest.

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The two minority owners say they then sought internal financial records and filed a lawsuit in August against Ishbia to obtain them. Seldin and Kohlberg say they were shown a one-page document that claimed a “debt-to-equity conversion” was used to fund a portion of Ishbia’s contribution to the raise. But ultimately, they say, they learned that Ishbia failed to fund both capital call raises by the deadlines he set.

“As a result of Ishbia’s scheme to swap the debt for equity, Ishbia himself accordingly funded none of the new cash by the capital call deadline while the minority owners funded approximately 38% of it, despite owning only 13% of the company,” the filing states.

Under the terms of the team’s operating agreement, Seldin and Kohlberg say, they should have been able to buy the shares Ishbia failed to fund.

In a statement Tuesday, Michael Carlinsky of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, an attorney representing Seldin and Kohlberg, said, “The updated redacted filing shows that the $250 million capital call issued with only ten days’ notice was designed to allow Mat Ishbia to unfairly increase his ownership stake by severely diluting the minority owners. The artificially low valuation of $10 million per unit bears no connection to the true value of the franchise, which Ishbia asserted was worth $7 billion or more in August 2025 based on his own market analysis.

“Now that Ishbia’s failure to fund consistent with the terms of his own capital call has come to light, we believe his ownership stake is at risk of significant dilution from 83.2% to 32.7%.”

For Ishbia’s majority ownership to be in jeopardy, the judge in the lawsuit would need to decide that Ishbia failed to fund the capital call by his own deadline and therefore, per the terms of the operating agreement, Ishbia must offer the minority owners the opportunity to fund his unfunded share at the $10 million per unit price set in his capital call notice.

If that were to happen, Seldin and Kohlberg could take over the majority ownership of the Suns and Phoenix Mercury with a stake of approximately 60%.

“There is nothing new here, and the claims are ridiculous,” a spokesman for Ishbia said in a statement Tuesday. “Unwilling to take responsibility and invest in the team, these guys are resorting to threats and publicity stunts to get Mat to buy them out just so they make more money.”

Seldin and Kohlberg are holdovers from the previous ownership group under Robert Sarver. In 2023, Ishbia bought a 57% controlling stake for $2.28 billion, as ESPN reported then, with the embattled Sarver selling his 37% stake for $1.48 billion. At the time of the sale, 14 of the 16 partners in the Suns’ ownership group accepted Ishbia’s buyout offer at a $4 billion valuation.

Kohlberg and Seldin were the only two who did not sell.

Ishbia countersued the two Suns minority owners in October, saying they insisted he buy out their ownership shares “at an exorbitant premium.”

ESPN previously reported that the Suns sent a letter in August to Kohlberg and Seldin, in which the team said the two men demanded that the Suns buy their ownership share for $825 million, a figure that would put the team’s value at about $6 billion — a 60% increase from the value when Ishbia bought his controlling interest in 2023.

The Suns said in the letter, which ESPN obtained, that they have no obligation to buy out Seldin and Kohlberg.

The latest lawsuit from Seldin and Kohlberg marks the seventh against the Suns since November 2024. Others have been filed by current or former employees. Some of their allegations include discrimination, retaliation, harassment and wrongful termination.

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Thomas Frank believes he will be shown patience by Tottenhamâ€s owners despite the fractious home defeat against Fulham on Saturday which resulted in him criticising supporters for booing the goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

After the 2-1 defeat – a third for Spurs in the space of six days – Frank said those who took aim at the Italian after his mistake led to a second Fulham goal for Harry Wilson were “not true fansâ€.

The Spurs manager refused to back down from those comments on Monday, but did recognise the only way of getting fans back onside was to “perform and keep connectedâ€, starting with the trip to Newcastle on Tuesday.

Frank also backed Pedro Porro after the Spain defender posted a message on social media “to the true Spurs fans†and explained that he had stormed off the pitch at full time after the Fulham match because he was angry to hear “disrespect from the fans to my teammatesâ€.

Tottenham have won three of their past 13 games in all competitions and must try to turn around their fortunes at St James†Park, where they have lost on their past four visits and conceded 14 goals. But Frank, who will face his former side Brentford at home on Saturday, said he is very confident he retains the long-term backing of the new Spurs management group led by Vinai Venkatesham, the chief executive, after Daniel Levyâ€s surprise departure in September.

“It seems like theyâ€re good guys, intelligent people,†Frank said. “They know how to run businesses and are learning about football, learning more now theyâ€ve become owners.

“When weâ€re dealing with intelligent people they can see every successful dynasty, every successful club has taken time. Yes, you have one where you maybe win one year or the second year, but you canâ€t sustain it if you donâ€t build something sustainable.â€

Frank also rejected suggestions he has already lost the support of a section of the Spurs fanbase and called on all supporters to get behind his team. “Iâ€m pretty sure every fan wants to win and wants to support,†he said.

“If youâ€re not going to plan, then maybe some get more frustrated than others. Thereâ€s always some that shout louder than others.

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“When you say you lose the fans, how many is that? Five per cent, 10%, 15%, 20%? How much is it? I donâ€t know. We would like to get all 100% on board.â€

On Porroâ€s social media comments, he said: “The players, they are individual people that can have their own opinions. What he put out there was fair in every aspect.â€

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Anyone familiar with high-profile court cases, especially civil cases, knows two things are happening at once: a fight in the court through legal filings and the process, and a fight for the hearts and minds of the public who care about the trial.

That second part is why, when the attorney for Suns’ minority owners Andy Kohlberg and Scott Seldin filed his latest brief with the court Monday — a response to Ishbia’s countersuit to the duo’s original lawsuit against him — a press release was sent to the media along with it. In the filing, Kohlberg and Seldin accuse Ishbia of mismanaging the NBA franchise and of using a capital call to pressure them to sell some or all of their shares in the franchise. They also insist that Ishbia and his legal team made a mistake that allows them to purchase a majority of the team and take over as the governor.

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“We have now filed our claims for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract to expose the misconduct by Mr. Ishbia,” said the duo’s lawyer, Michael Carlinsky, Global Co-Managing Partner and Head of Complex Litigation, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, said in a statement sent to NBC Sports. “Among other things, we believe the evidence will show that Mr. Ishbia contrived a scheme to threaten our clients with massive dilution of their interests in the Suns if they failed to fund a capital call within ten days’ notice, while at the same hiding his own failure to fund by the deadline. We believe this scheme backfired and will result in a substantial reduction of Mr. Ishbia’s interest in the Suns. He has repeatedly abused his position as manager of the franchise to benefit himself — not the Suns. We look forward to moving forward on an expedited basis and presenting our case to the court.”

The legal filing itself states (via Doug Haller and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic):

“The reality is that Ishbia is using the Suns as his personal piggy bank, including through a lengthy list of conflicted transactions — only some of which the Minority Owners are aware of.”

Among the accusations the filing makes are that Ishbia made a loan to the Suns at an interest rate considerably higher than the prevailing market rate, and that he sold the naming rights to the Suns’ arena to his own mortgage company, among other things.

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Ishbia has pushed back from the start. A spokesperson for Ishbia released this statement to The Athletic.

“This isnâ€t a lawsuit; itâ€s a shameless shakedown dressed up as legal process,” a spokesperson for Ishbia said. “From day one, Mat Ishbia was transparent that he was going to do things differently. Contrary to how the team was previously managed, Mat made it very clear he would invest significantly into the Suns and Mercury. He told all the investors that they could step up with him or sell their stake and step aside. Kohlberg and Seldin stayed in and now they’re trying to freeload off the value Mat created.

“Kohlberg and Seldin want to drag the organization backward, and they openly admit in this filing that investing in the team and its fans ‘makes no business sense.’ They are advocating neglect. They are free to sell their shares in the open market and if they don’t, they should be prepared to lose this lawsuit and participate in Mat’s continued investments in the teams and community.”

There was speculation at the time the initial lawsuit by Kohlberg and Seldin that it was just a ploy to gain leverage in talks for Ishbia to buy their shares. The Athletic story basically confirms this, saying Kohlberg went to Ishbia a year ago to buy him out, but Ishbia didn’t respond and a few days later scheduled the capital call, which in the eyes of Kohlberg was seen as trying to squeeze him and dillute the value of his shares. Ishbia, obviously, denies this. All of that led to this charge from the lawsuit, again by The Athletic.

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[Kohlberg and Seldin] later learned that more of the capital had not been funded and that Ishbia had used a debt-to-equity conversion to fill the financial gap. This maneuver, Kohlberg and Seldin say, was not the legitimate way to do that. The two minority owners also say that a July 8, 2025, capital call was also not fully funded on time. They argue that under the teamâ€s operating agreement, they would be afforded to buy the shares Ishbia had not funded himself. If they did, they would then have a majority stake in the franchises.

This feels like it will ultimately be settled, Ishbia will buy out Kohlberg and Seldin, but first there is a this legal battle and a lot of lawyers making a lot of money.

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Brandon Nimmoâ€s time in the Big Apple has come to an end.

The outfielder spent his first 10 years with the Mets after being selected as the 13th overall pick in the 2011 Draft.

Nimmo fought through his share of ups-and-downs over the years, but he established himself as a fan favorite with his infectious smile and the high-energy play he brought to the field everyday.

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He expressed his desire to remain a Met his entire career after signing an eight-year extension ahead of the 2023 season, but two years into that deal the organization had other plans.

David Stearns said it was not an easy decision, but the Mets opted to ship Nimmo out of town on Sunday night in a deal with the Texas Rangers for veteran 2B Marcus Semien.

His chapter with the Mets comes to a close with a .262 average, 135 homers, 188 doubles, 463 RBI, a .364 on-base percentage, and a .802 OPS over 1,066 games.

Owners Steve and Alex Cohen released a statement shortly after the deal became official on Monday afternoon.

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“Brandon represented our organization with heart, grit, and passion,†they wrote. “He embodied everything it meant to be a Met on and off the field. We are grateful for everything he gave to our team and community. We wish Brandon, Chelsea, and Tatum all the best.â€

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  Baxter HolmesNov 24, 2025, 05:25 PM ET

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  Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) is a senior writer for ESPN Digital and Print, focusing on the NBA. He has covered the Lakers, the Celtics and previously worked for The Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times.

A pair of Phoenix Suns minority owners allege that Mat Ishbia is using the franchise as “his personal piggy bank” and that the Suns’ governor has sunken a once-profitable team into the red, according to a new lawsuit claiming misconduct and mismanagement by Ishbia.

The filing in Delaware State Court, which was made public Monday and obtained by ESPN, is the latest turn in an ongoing legal battle between Ishbia, who bought the team in 2023 from embattled former majority owner Robert Sarver, and Scott Seldin and Andy Kohlberg, who are holdovers from the previous ownership regime under Sarver.

Seldin and Kohlberg sued the team in August, alleging that Ishbia refused access to internal records and that he held a capital call on June 2, 2025, “to exert pressure on and dilute” the ownership shares held by the Suns’ minority owners.

Ishbia countersued the two men last month and called their lawsuit a “shakedown” in a statement through a spokesperson.

“Ishbia does not own the Suns to make money for the company but he does operate it as a personal fiefdom for his own personal gain and for the benefit of his other businesses, including his mortgage company United Wholesale Mortgage,” the latest filing states. “The reality is that Ishbia is using the Suns as his personal piggy bank, including through a lengthy list of conflicted transactions — only some of which the minority owners are aware of.”

Among several allegations in the latest filing, Seldin and Kohlberg say that Ishbia extended a loan to the Suns at an interest rate far above market, that he sold the naming rights to the Suns’ arena to his mortgage company without disclosing details to the minority partners, that he leased the Phoenix Mercury’s practice facility from himself at undisclosed rates and that he established a new entity — called the “Player 15 Group” — that they say appears to hold assets that rightfully belong to the Suns.

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Regarding the June 2, 2025, capital call, Seldin and Kohlberg also say that Ishbia tried to punitively dilute their shares if they didn’t fund a capital raise on a 10-day deadline while hiding his own failure to fund by the deadline.

“In other words, Ishbia blundered into the very trap he set for the minority owners and faced a devastating dilution of his ownership interest if his failure was discovered — a failure that would wipe off his net worth and put his continued status as an NBA team owner and governor in jeopardy,” the filing states.

In a statement, Michael Carlinsky of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, an attorney representing Seldin and Kohlberg, said in part of that capital raise, “We believe this scheme backfired and will result in a substantial reduction of Mr. Ishbia’s interest in the Suns. He has repeatedly abused his position as manager of the franchise to benefit himself — not the Suns. We look forward to moving forward on an expedited basis and presenting our case to the court.”

Ishbia, through a spokesperson, has denied the allegations.

“This isn’t a lawsuit; it’s a shameless shakedown dressed up as legal process,” a spokesperson for Ishbia said in a statement to ESPN. “From day one, Mat Ishbia was transparent that he was going to do things differently. Contrary to how the team was previously managed, Mat made it very clear he would invest significantly into the Suns and Mercury. He told all the investors that they could step up with him or sell their stake and step aside. Kohlberg and Seldin stayed in and now they’re trying to freeload off the value Mat created.

“Kohlberg and Seldin want to drag the organization backward, and they openly admit in this filing that investing in the team and its fans ‘makes no business sense.’ They are advocating neglect. They are free to sell their shares in the open market and if they don’t, they should be prepared to lose this lawsuit and participate in Mat’s continued investments in the teams and community.”

Seldin and Kohlberg also say that the Suns and Mercury have been operating at a net loss since he came aboard in 2023. The exact figures are unknown, as they are redacted in the latest legal filing.

“Ishbia has spent wildly on player and coach contracts, incurred massive tax penalties from the NBA, and built himself an expensive clubhouse to hold court and hand out favors to his guests — with his co-owners footing their share of the bill,” the filing continues. “At the same time, Ishbia has mortgaged the Suns’ future by trading away valuable draft picks for years to come and has knowingly foregone significant revenue opportunities, purportedly in the service of his ‘focus on winning and success’ and the Suns’ fan experience.”

In 2023, Ishbia bought a 57% controlling stake for $2.28 billion, as ESPN reported then, with Sarver selling his 37% stake for $1.48 billion. At the time of the 2023 sale, 14 of the 16 partners in the Suns’ ownership group accepted Ishbia’s buyout offer at a $4 billion valuation. Kohlberg and Seldin were the only two who did not sell.

The latest lawsuit from Seldin and Kohlberg marks the seventh against the Suns since November 2024. Others have been filed by current or former employees. Some of their allegations include discrimination, retaliation, harassment and wrongful termination.

During a Sept. 24 appearance on ESPN’s “NBA Today,” Ishbia addressed the lawsuits.

“Obviously anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason they want, for anything they want,” Ishbia said. “How many lawsuits have we actually lost? The answer is zero. How many will we lose? Zero.

“The way I look at it a little differently than other people is we don’t settle. We don’t settle with someone. You want to say, give me $30,000 and I won’t file a lawsuit? I say file a lawsuit. We didn’t do anything wrong. If we do something wrong, we take care of people, but I’m not going to be leveraged by people.”

The Suns are 11-6 entering Monday night’s game against the Houston Rockets.

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Star Indian batter KL Rahul has shared insights about the unique challenges of captaining teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL).The role of a captain involves being an on-field manager, chief strategist, and team spokesperson while maintaining personal performance standards. According to Rahul, leadership responsibilities in IPL are more demanding compared to international cricket.

IPL 2026 retained players: Who stayed where and for how much

Rahul began his IPL journey in 2013 with Royal Challengers Bengaluru and has since played for four different teams. He currently represents Delhi Capitals after being acquired in the previous year.His captaincy journey started in 2020, followed by leading the Lucknow Super Giants for three consecutive seasons from 2022 to 2024.”What I found hard as a captain in the IPL was the number of meetings that you needed to do, the number of reviews that you needed to do and explain at the ownership level,” Rahul told Humans of Bombay.”I realised that at the end of IPL, I am more mentally and physically drained than playing 10 months of international cricket.”The 33-year-old cricketer highlighted the challenges faced by both captains and coaches in dealing with ownership groups who lack deep cricket experience.”Coaches, captains are constantly being asked a lot of questions,” he added. “It almost, after a point feels like, you are being questioned as to ‘why did you make this change? Why did he play in the XI? Why is it that the opposition got 200 and we couldn’t even get 120? Why are their bowlers getting more spin?'”Rahul now plays as a regular team member for Delhi Capitals, stepping away from captaincy duties.

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Liverpool have pulled out of a long-running investment plan.

The Reds are enduring a tough campaign, finding themselves down in eighth place in the Premier League as they look to defend their title and bed in over £400 million of new talent.

But while Liverpool spent heavily over the summer, there is a longer-term plan at play with recruitment, which has taken a turn due to new events.

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Liverpool are no longer set for a huge takeover opportunity, with owners FSG looking elsewhere

Over the last few years, Liverpool have made several major structural changes behind the scenes to improve the recruitment and align the club for long-term success.

Michael Edwards returned to work for owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) as their Chief Executive of Football in 2024, after departing in 2022 – with a broader job spec than he previously held at the club.

Michael Edwards, Jurgen Klopp and Mike Gordon of Liverpool (Image credit: Getty Images)

FSG were said to be interested in acquiring another team as part of a multi-club network, with Getafe in Spain mooted as an option, as per the Mail.

However, according to Marca, this move is no longer happening.

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Sources have claimed that after “analyses”, FSG found that the Madrid outfit needed “aggressive” improvement right now – but given that La Liga sides are limited by spending rules that limit outside investment, it would have been too much of a challenge for FSG.

FSG were quoted a figure of around €130 million to buy the club owned by construction magnate Angel Torres, but after “months of work” researching the club, the cost was found to be much higher.

TA International Investment Holding, a global investment company based in Qatar, are now believed to be the most likely suitor to buy Getafe.

John W. Henry, Owner of Liverpool and wife Linda Pizzuti Henry interact with Jurgen Klopp (Image credit: Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

Several clubs in the English top flight have affiliate clubs across the globe, with the City Football Group the most famous example – Chelsea’s BlueCo also own Strasbourg though, Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has a stake in Olympiacos, and Brighton’s Tony Bloom has investment in Union Saint-Gilloise.

Liverpool return to Premier League action after the international break when they host Nottingham Forest.

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  Tim MacMahonNov 12, 2025, 03:19 PM ET

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  • Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
  • Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
  • Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM

DALLAS — Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont has requested medical data indicating that Anthony Davis is not at risk of aggravating his left calf strain before giving a green light for the 10-time All-Star big man to return, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Davis is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s home game against the Phoenix Suns. It is the third consecutive game that he’s had that designation on the injury report, but he will miss his seventh consecutive game.

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He originally targeted his return for Saturday’s road game against the Washington Wizards, but there was a disagreement between Mavs director of health and performance Johann Bilsborough and Davis’ personal medical staff on whether that was prudent, sources said. Davis was held out after Dumont sided with Bilsborough, preferring to err on the side of caution, sources said.

Dumont’s involvement in the decision was a strong indication of his eroded trust in general manager Nico Harrison, who was fired Tuesday morning. Harrison had been in favor of Davis returning, sources said.

There is concern about Davis suffering a potentially catastrophic injury if the calf strain is not completely healed, as happened with Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, who ruptured his Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Davis has played in only 14 games, plus a pair of play-in outings, since arriving in Dallas as the headliner in the return of the controversial Luka Doncic trade that outraged the Mavericks’ fan base.

Davis was recovering from an abdominal injury at the time of the trade, and he rushed to return for the team’s first home game after the deal, sustaining a related adductor strain after dominating the first half of a Feb. 8 win over the Houston Rockets. That adductor strain sidelined Davis for the next six weeks.

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  Jeff CarlisleOct 15, 2025, 07:38 AM ET

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  Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC.

The Aug. 10 match between the Portland Thorns and the Seattle Reign looked like countless other NWSL matches at Providence Park in downtown Portland over the years. The stadium’s North End, home to Thorns supporters group Rose City Riveters, kept up a steady beat of chants and songs. The Pride flags and Cascadia banners were draped over the railing. A crowd of 21,811 fans enjoyed a 4-2 victory over their longtime rivals.

Compared to the 2022 and 2023 seasons, there were some flags missing, however. There were no “Sell The Team” signs, nor were there any “You Knew” banners, a reference to the abuse scandal that rocked the team — and the NWSL as a whole — starting back in 2021 once the news had broken. The reason for this was simple: A change in ownership in early 2024 meant that Merritt Paulson — who long caught the ire of fans — was out, and RAJ Sports, headed by the Bhathal family, was in.

For fans, attending games the past two seasons has meant no more inner turmoil in terms of supporting the team once owned by Paulson, who they held responsible for much of the scandal.

“The joy is back,” said Gabby Rosas, the former president of the 107IST, the organizational arm of the Rose City Riveters, as well as the Portland Timbers’ counterpart, the Timbers Army. “I know I feel more comfortable in the stadium, in the stands. I don’t feel conflicted about it. I think the new ownership is not even really on my thought list when I’m getting ready for a match, unlike for a few years there.”

The joy might have returned to Thorns game days, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been growing pains. Decoupling the Thorns from the Timbers organization — which had been the driving force behind the NWSL team since its debut in 2013 — has been a bumpy process at times. And it’s still not over.

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Rebuilding trust in Portland

The Thorns’ new ownership group, led by the brother-sister duo of Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage, has attempted to steer the Thorns into a new era. That has meant a clear separation of the club from Paulson’s organization and crafting their own approach in moving the Thorns forward.

“For me, I consider it incredibly fun, challenging,” Merage told ESPN about taking over the Thorns. “It’s about problem solving. It’s about making a difference. It’s about influencing and shaping the future. I like to say shaping the future of women’s sports for generations to come. So, it comes with everything, but that’s what makes it so fun. We’re very lucky to be in this line of work.”

Alex Bhathal added: “We love business and we love sports, so there’s nothing better than to be the custodians of this community asset, and it’s been a thrilling ride, a lot of fun, a lot of challenges to overcome, but we’re just getting started and really excited about where we can elevate the club to on a global stage.”

Reilyn Turner and Pietra Tordin celebrate the Portland Thorns scoring against the Seattle Reign on Aug. 10. Soobum Im/NWSL via Getty Images

While there have been numerous challenges, the biggest ones have been about rebuilding trust with fans and sponsors. Portland was one of the teams at the epicenter of the Yates Report, which detailed systemic abuse at multiple NWSL teams. Former Thorns manager Paul Riley, who coached the team in 2014 and 2015, was named in the report as having allegedly engaged in sexual coercion of players, with the organization’s leaders — including Paulson — keeping the manner of his departure quiet and helping him find new employment within the league.

A report from the Oregonian also detailed a toxic workplace culture at the Timbers-Thorns organization as it related to its treatment of women employees. Later, ESPN reported that Paulson had given North Carolina Courage owner Steve Malik a warning that Riley shouldn’t apply for the then-vacant U.S. women’s national team job, extending the wall of silence about Riley’s behavior. Longtime Thorns executives Gavin Wilkinson and Mike Golub were later fired.

In 2022, Paulson announced he was stepping down as CEO from both the Thorns and the Timbers, and later said he would sell the NWSL side. That sale was completed on Jan. 3, 2024.

Bhathal and Merage said they spent the first year of their ownership on a “listening tour” in which they engaged with fans and other stakeholders. There were connections to the business community and fan base that needed to be reestablished. There was an organization that needed to be staffed.

Along the way, RAJ Sports also secured a WNBA expansion franchise, dubbed the Fire, that will be based in Portland.

“Our primary focus and goal and vision is to cement Portland as the global epicenter for women’s sports,” Bhathal said.

As it relates to the Thorns, that has meant knowing when to push through with ideas and when to back off. Tina Ettlin, a current 107IST board member, recalled how in one early meeting, the new ownership asked, “How are we going to light the beam?” — a reference to the postwin ritual of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings who count Alex Bhathal as one of their owners. That suggestion did not go over well with the Riveters and was eventually discarded.

“We’re like, ‘Did you not buy the team because of what you saw in the Riveters?’ So, we were a little bit confused by that and a little bit off-put by that,” Ettlin said.

Some endeavors from new ownership have been more successful than others. At the height of the scandal under Paulson, sponsors began abandoning the Thorns. Among those were Alaska Airlines, which ended its jersey sponsorship in 2023, after previously redirecting its funds to the NWSL Players Association Emergency Trust and local youth sports. Cheesemaker Tillamook also withdrew its support.

But Alaska Airlines and Tillamook have since come back into the Thorns’ sponsorship fold. Both companies had previously been Timbers sponsors too. Tillamook has since returned, signing on as the Timbers’ front-of-jersey sponsor, but Alaska has not. The Thorns, meanwhile, locked up security camera company Ring as their new jersey sponsor, which Merage said has helped bring sponsorship revenue up over 600% year over year.

At the height of discontent under former owner Merritt Paulson, Portland Thorns fans displayed signs that said, ‘You Knew,’ in reference to his involvement in covering up allegations of abuse under ex-coach Paul Riley. Logan Hannigan-Downs/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Not all broken ties have been mended, though. Union Wine was one sponsor that didn’t return, citing a wait-and-see approach with the new ownership. “Our commitment to this community runs deep,” said Union Wine owner and founder Ryan Harms in a statement to ESPN. “We believe the Thorns are an important part of Oregon sports culture, and we’re hopeful that the new leadership will take the steps necessary to rebuild and strengthen trust with fans and partners alike. If that happens, we’d certainly be open to exploring what a future partnership could look like.”

It helps that, with new owners, the organization has something of a clean slate.

“We are just approaching everything brand new, and establishing who we are, what our mission is, what we’re about, and really leaning into that,” Thorns CEO Alexis Lee said in relation to sponsorships. “And everybody has been very open to those conversations and quite actually excited about it.”

That doesn’t mean the relationship with Paulson is now nonexistent, though. According to Lee, no staff came over from Peregrine Sports, the Paulson-led entity that previously owned the Thorns. The two entities have been completely separate on the business side since the start of this year, Merage said.

At present, the Thorns employ 20 employees on the soccer operations side and 35 on the business side, with more to come. But the Thorns remain a subtenant at Providence Park, which is operated by Peregrine Sports and, by extension, Paulson.

“We still text with Merritt pretty regularly,” Bhathal said. “We cheer on the Timbers. He cheers on the Thorns. It’s all good.”

Facility gains, attendance challenges

RAJ Sports has also jumped headlong into building new infrastructure for the Thorns, who lacked their own practice space in the Paulson years, often having to train at the artificial turf of Providence Park. RAJ Sports broke ground on a new training facility back in May, one that will be shared between the Thorns and the Fire and will be designed for women athletes.

Construction is expected to be completed in time for the start of the 2026 NWSL season and has involved consultation with other NWSL teams that have built similar facilities, including the Kansas City Current. Thorns players like Morgan Weaver and Sophia Wilson, who just gave birth to her first child, have also had a say in what amenities the facility will have.

“I think that what we learned was to allow flexibility for growth because it seemed like [Kansas City] built it and they were already starting to bust out the seams,” said Merage. “So we’re like, how does that come into play for ours? And then also just how they approach the female athlete. So, there were learnings with that as well.”

New Portland Thorns owners Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage accept a WNBA ball from commissioner Cathy Engelbert as the Bhathals announce their new WNBA team, the Portland Fire, planned to debut next year. Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images

When asked if the Thorns would ever consider constructing their own stadium, Bhathal said that the team’s current venue is “representative of Portland being a soccer city, and it allows for the community to really support both the Timbers and the Thorns, and we are very happy in Providence Park.”

Attendance has proven to be a bigger challenge. During the 2022 season, when the Thorns’ organizational reputation hit rock bottom, per game average attendance was 15,543 and a wave of fans opted not to renew their season tickets. Once Paulson announced in December 2022 that he would sell the team, 2023 attendance ticked up to 18,918. It was about the same (18,725) in 2024 but has since moved downward to 17,479 so far this season. Lee noted that mark still leads the league, though attendance is down this year across the league.

Gavin Wilkinson, left, and Merritt Paulson, who oversaw both the Portland Timbers and Thorns before the Thorns’ ownership change, had been called out in investigations for their handling of abuse allegations. Diego Diaz/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

“Although we are in the top of our area, there’s always more opportunities to sell in that particular space,” Lee said. “We are very affordable. We want to remain affordable. We’re going to continue to evaluate what the product mix looks like, how are we meeting the needs of our marketplace and just the ever-changing demands of that as well.”

To meet those demands, Lee said they are looking at modifying kickoff times, the better to cater to families. Earlier this year, the Thorns held the “World’s Largest Baby Shower,” in a bid to not only honor Wilson and Thorns midfielder Olivia Wade-Katoa, but also to donate diapers to families in the community.

“What we’re trying to do is meet our audiences of where they’re at, also understanding where the economy is, and just trying to test how do we meet you where you’re at in whatever price point you’re at,” Lee said.

Even the presence of new owners can’t entirely repair the damage done during the scandal years. Chris Bright, a local tech entrepreneur who at one time tried to put together a consortium of microinvestors to buy the team, had canceled his season tickets at the height of the scandal, and while he has attended some games this year, he hasn’t yet renewed them.

“It’s just more about me not getting around to it,” Bright said. It shows the problem that the new Thorns organization still faces in winning fans and sponsors back to the same level of engagement after it has lost them once already.

A Thorns rebuild on the field too

As much as off-field matters continue to be a work in progress, so too is what’s happening on the field.

The Thorns have been without Wilson and Weaver because of pregnancy and a right knee injury, respectively. That, along with the retirements of club legends Christine Sinclair, Meghan Klingenberg and Becky Sauerbrunn, might explain in part the drop in attendance.

But on the field, the Thorns are staying afloat despite those absences — they are currently in seventh place, but just two points behind third-place Orlando.

There has been some upheaval on the soccer operations side, with Jeff Agoos replacing Karina LeBlanc as general manager at the start of 2025, while Rob Gale replaced Mike Norris as manager after the start of the 2024 campaign. This is Agoos’ first foray into woman’s soccer after previously working for the New York Red Bulls and MLS league office.

Agoos admits that there’s been a bit of a learning curve, but insists that while the loss of former league MVP Wilson was a huge blow, it forced the team to diversify its attack.

“We wanted to make sure that we were going to be younger and more aggressive,” Agoos said. “We wanted to make sure we rebalanced our team and that we had different areas that were capable of scoring from a lot of different places. Sophia was essentially the main protagonist for us last year, whereas we’ve got goals coming from a lot of different players this year.”

Deyna Castellanos and Mimi Alidou after a game at Providence Park in April 2025. Soobum Im/NWSL via Getty Images

Agoos added he’s trying to reset the club’s culture, even as the club won a championship as recently as 2022.

“We want to make sure that you have the courage to do the right thing at the right moment, even when people aren’t looking,” he said. “And so being a good pro, both on and off the field, whether it’s staff or whether it’s for players, is critically important.”

While the vibe from fans overall is positive, there is a sense that the Thorns have fallen from what was once a lofty perch. As the league expands — two new teams, in Boston and Denver, debut in 2026, taking the league to 16 teams — there’s no guarantee that the organization will make it back. There has been a scarcity of top signings that make fans sit up and take notice.

“I think part of the frustration is how do we get back to being No. 1,” Rosas said. “Not just in the standings, but how do we get back to being the club that international players want to come to? The top tier players want to be at? How do we get back to being this beacon for women’s soccer, not only in NWSL, but for around the world?”

That the Fire, who will launch in the WNBA next year, are now part of the RAJ Sports portfolio isn’t viewed entirely as a positive to some fans either. The constant advertising for the Fire at Providence Park leaves some fans feeling wary.

“The frustration is it feels like their focus has really pivoted to [the WNBA],” Rosas said. “I know that that’s a tall order, that’s a huge project, but I also feel like there’s still a lot of work to do on the Thorns side as well.

“I think they now are calling themselves the epicenter of women’s sports. And it’s like, what does that mean? I just feel like the Thorns are getting pulled into this identity that isn’t the Thorns. It’s like you’re trying to spread something out to encompass a lot more than what it needs to. We’re in a playoff run; we should be focusing on the Thorns.”

In response to those concerns, Lee said that while the Fire is an “exciting new addition” to the organization, it hasn’t changed the level of commitment of investment that the ownership has in the Thorns.

“Our success is intertwined, and the Thorns remain a top priority,” Lee said.

Both Bhathal and Merage acknowledge that there is more work to be done. With a home venue with a 26,000-seat capacity, there is certainly room to grow in terms of attendance. But ownership is intent on playing the long game. Bhathal said women’s sports franchises will be billion dollar businesses “in short order.”

“We consider ourselves growth stage investors,” Bhathal said. “So, when we came in, it was post the venture stage. I would say it’s into the growth stage, and it’s nowhere near maturity. There’s so much opportunity ahead. So, it was the right time for us where we feel that there’s a proof of concept, it’s working.”

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  Baxter HolmesOct 14, 2025, 02:28 PM ET

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  Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) is a senior writer for ESPN Digital and Print, focusing on the NBA. He has covered the Lakers, the Celtics and previously worked for The Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times.

Phoenix Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia has countersued two Suns minority owners, saying that they insisted he buy out their ownership shares “at an exorbitant premium,” according to a copy of the complaint obtained by ESPN.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Delaware State Court. The two Suns minority owners are Scott Seldin and Andy Kohlberg, both of whom were holdovers from the previous regime under former Suns owner Robert Sarver. Seldin and Kohlberg sued the team in August, alleging that Ishbia has refused access to internal records.

ESPN previously reported that the Suns sent a letter in August to Kohlberg and Seldin, in which the team said that the two men demanded that the Suns buy their ownership share for $825 million, a figure that would place the team’s value at about $6 billion — a 60% increase from the value when Ishbia bought his controlling interest in 2023.

The Suns said in the letter, which ESPN obtained, that they have no obligation to buy Seldin and Kohlberg out.

“When Mat Ishbia bought the Suns and Mercury, he couldn’t have been clearer with investors: he was going to invest in the teams, the fans, and the community,” a spokesman for Ishbia said Tuesday. “Every investor had the choice at that point — sell at premium or stay in and invest alongside him. Andy Kohlberg and Scott Seldin want it both ways. They don’t want to invest in the teams, but they are demanding a payday significantly higher than what Mat originally offered, which was still over 20x their original investment. That’s not how it works, and we’re confident we’ll prevail in court.”

An attorney representing Kohlberg and Seldin didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

The August lawsuit from Seldin and Kohlberg was the sixth against the Suns since November 2024. The other five were by current or former employees. Some of their allegations include discrimination, retaliation, harassment and wrongful termination.

During a Sept. 24 appearance on ESPN’s “NBA Today,” Ishbia addressed the lawsuits.

“Obviously anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason they want, for anything they want,” Ishbia said. “How many lawsuits have we actually lost? The answer is zero. How many will we lose? Zero.

“The way I look at it a little differently than other people is we don’t settle. We don’t settle with someone. You want to say, give me $30,000 and I won’t file a lawsuit? I say file a lawsuit. We didn’t do anything wrong. If we do something wrong, we take care of people, but I’m not going to be leveraged by people.”

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