Nav Bhatia

Nav Bhatia (Punjabi: ਨਵ ਭਾਟੀਆ; born July 9, 1951) is a Canadian businessman and superfan for the Toronto Raptors basketball team. He currently runs the Superfan Foundation as a way to unite people through the love of sport. He has attended every Toronto Raptors home game since 1995, declaring him to be a true Superfan.

On June 19, 2018, Bhatia was named a recipient of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award . Other notable recipients of the award have included VANOC CEO John Furlong , mental health activist Loizza Aquino , father of two professional ice hockey players Karl Subban , CBC News anchor Ian Hanomansing , and the 26th Governor-General of Canada, Adrienne Clarkson .

Career

When Bhatia moved to Canada in 1984, fleeing violent persecution of Sikhs 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.

He lived in Los Angeles before moving to Toronto only to discover the Raptors.

Bhatia is the owner of one of the top-selling Hyundai car dealerships in Canada which has enabled him to amass a net worth of $50 million.

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 a championship ring.

In 2020, he was honoured by the Basketball Hall of Fame being one of the first fans memorialized in its new superfan gallery.

Personal life

Bhatia is known for being the Raptors’ biggest fan, having attended every Raptors home game in the franchise's 24-year history. He is frequently invited to talk about basketball in the media.

Bhatia is known also for his kind spirit and is known to spend his fortune on buying tickets for Raptors games for struggling children and Sikh children.