Nav Bhatia (born July 9, 1951), nicknamed the Raptors Superfan, is a Canadian businessman and superfan of the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Atlantic Division (NBA) ...

basketball team. He founded and currently runs the Superfan Foundation to help unite people through the love of the sport. Bhatia has attended every Toronto Raptors home game since 1995, temporarily ending in 2020 when he could no longer attend home games in-person due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and the Raptors' temporary relocation to Tampa, Florida. His 26-years 100 percent Toronto home game attendance streak finally ended on December 10, 2021, when he was forced into isolation following a COVID-19 outbreak at an event he attended. On June 19, 2018, Bhatia was named a recipient of the

Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award The Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards is an annual campaign by ''Canadian Immigrant'' magazine that recognizes outstanding work by immigrants who "have come to Canada and have made a positive difference living in the country." Overview First ...

Career

Bhatia moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

in 1984 in the midst of anti-Sikh riots in India. He struggled to find work as a mechanical engineer and decided to work as a car salesman. He achieved a record 127 car sales in 3 months and bought the dealership 2 years later. Bhatia is the owner of one of the top-selling

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai As ...

car dealerships in Canada. He founded the Superfan Foundation in 2018 as a way to bring diverse people in Canada and around the world together through sport. He spends $300K every year to send thousands of kids to Raptors games. After the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Championship during the 2018–2019 season, he became the first ever fan to receive an official NBA Championship ring. In 2020, the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

announced that Bhatia would be one of the first fans memorialized in its new superfan gallery for their 2020 induction class. He was officially inducted into the Hall of Fame on May 15, 2021, as part of their ceremonial induction weekend. In 2021, Bhatia was announced as the subject of both ''Superfan: The Nav Bhatia Story'', a

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

documentary film which aired on December 3, 2021, and ''Superfan'', an upcoming Hollywood studio biopic slated to star

Kal Penn Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor, he is known for his role portrayin ...

as Bhatia.

Personal life

Bhatia is known for being the Raptors’ biggest fan, having attended every Raptors home game in the franchise's 25-year history from 1995 to 2020, until the

forced the Raptors to temporarily play their 2020–2021 season in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Co ...

, Florida. His 26-year 100% Toronto home game attendance streak finally ended on December 10, 2021, when he was forced into isolation due to attending an outbreak of COVID-19 at

Masai Ujiri Masai Ujiri (born 7 July 1970) is a British-born, Nigerian-Canadian professional basketball executive and former player and is the president of basketball operations of the Toronto Raptors in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a mo ...

's Giants of Africa Gala, which he attended. He is frequently invited to talk about basketball in the media. He has an adopted daughter, Tia Bhatia, who is a YouTuber.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatia, Nav 1951 births Living people 20th-century Canadian businesspeople 21st-century Canadian businesspeople Automobile salespeople Canadian people of Indian descent Canadian Sikhs Indian emigrants to Canada People from Mississauga People from New Delhi Sports spectators Toronto Raptors