Trail Blazers Change of Masters: Legal Litigation disrupts the acquisition of chess game

On September 25, the Portland Trail Blazers’ sale process unexpectedly fell into a legal quagmire. RAJ Sports, run by siblings Alex Batal and Lisa Batal Meridge, owns the WNBA Portland Flame and National Women's Football League (NWSL) Portland Thorns, will sue the Cheng family, the founder of Panda Fast Food, which is about to acquire a minority stake in the Trail Blazers, in court to try to prevent it from participating in the Trail Blazers acquisition.

RAJ Sports Company pointed the lawsuit at the founders of Panda Fast Food, Cheng Zhengchang and Jiang Peiqi. Although the content of the complaint has not been made public, it is clearly requested that the judge prohibit the Cheng couple from "signing or promoting any" agreements involving Trail Blazers' equity. The Cheng family is the owner of Panda Fast Food and is also a member of the investment group led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dungton. Just on September 13, Dungton and his team of investors just signed a purchase agreement to acquire Trail Blazers from Paul Allen’s estate for $4.25 billion.

Not only that, the complaint also requires the judge to prevent the Cheng family from "avoiding, bypassing, interfering or competing" or attempting to commit such actions, affecting the plaintiff's rights and interests in Trail Blazers-related transactions, whether it is team assets or direct or indirect equity. RAJ Sports claims that the Cheng family violated the exclusive agreement of July 24, 2025. The investor team where the Cheng family is located is strong, and in addition to private equity executives Mark Zaheer and Hill Tyre, it is also led by Dunton. It is worth mentioning that Tyre lives in the Portland area, and Peggy Jiang, as a graduate of Oregon State University, has a lot of connections with Oregon.

And the Batal family is not "nameless". They have previously expressed their intention to acquire the Trail Blazers, intending to include it in the existing WNBA and NWSL franchise portfolio in Portland. In addition, the family is also a minority owner of King Sacramento.

This legal lawsuit instantly made the prospect of the Trail Blazers' acquisition confusing. For the sports landscape of the city of Portland, the new owner of the Trail Blazers will greatly affect the team's future direction. The lawsuit by RAJ Sports Company is undoubtedly a strong obstacle to the Cheng family's participation in the acquisition. It is still difficult to tell whether it is the investment group where the Cheng family is located that can break through the obstacles and successfully complete the acquisition, or whether RAJ Sports successfully blocks the transaction and retains its "voice" in the Trail Blazers' related rights and interests. This incident has also attracted widespread attention from the sports and business circles, and people are waiting for the court's ruling and the new trends of the pioneers' future.