Nav Bhatia (born July 9, 1951),[2][3] nicknamed the Raptors Superfan, is a Canadian businessman and superfan of the
Toronto Raptors 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 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.[4] On June 19, 2018, Bhatia was named a recipient of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award.[5]
Career
Bhatia moved to
Toronto in 1984 in the midst of
anti-Sikh riots in India.[6][7][8] He struggled to find work as a mechanical engineer and decided to work as a car salesman.[9][10] He achieved a record 127 car sales in 3 months and bought the dealership 2 years later.[11] Bhatia is the owner of one of the top-selling
Hyundai car dealerships in Canada.[12][13]
He founded the Superfan Foundation in 2018 as a way to bring diverse people in Canada and around the world together through sport.[14] He spends $300K every year to send thousands of kids to Raptors games.[15][16]
In 2020, the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced that Bhatia would be one of the first fans memorialized in its new superfan gallery for their 2020 induction class.[18] He was officially honored by the Hall of Fame on May 15, 2021, as part of their ceremonial induction weekend.[19]
In 2021, Bhatia was announced as the subject of both Superfan: The Nav Bhatia Story, a
CBC Television documentary film which aired on December 3, 2021,[20] and Superfan, an upcoming Hollywood studio biopic slated to star
Kal Penn as Bhatia.[21]
Personal life
Bhatia is known for being the Raptors’ biggest fan,[22] having attended every Raptors home game in the franchise's 25-year history from 1995 to 2020,[23] until the
COVID-19 pandemic forced the Raptors to temporarily play their
2020–2021 season in
Tampa, 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's Giants of Africa Gala, which he attended.[24]
He is frequently invited to talk about basketball in the media.[25][26] He has an adopted daughter, Tia Bhatia, who is a YouTuber.