World League Officials Choose O.C. Developer : Football: WLAF board has recommended Raj Bhathal of Newport Beach to become majority owner of the Orlando franchise.

A quiet Newport Beach businessman apparently will become the majority owner of Orlando’s franchise in the new World League of American Football.

Officials of the WLAF recommended Raj Bhathal, a 49-year-old swimsuit manufacturer and real estate developer, to the league’s board Thursday as Orlando’s principal owner. Bhathal awaits the required three-fourths approval of the 26 NFL owners, who control the WLAF.

The WLAF is an NFL-owned spring league scheduled to begin play in 12 cities in North America and Europe. The league has network television contracts with ABC and the USA cable network worth $48 million over the first two years.

The Bhathals reside in the Big Canyon area of Newport Beach. They have a son who attends Corona del Mar High School and a daughter who attends USC.

Reached at the offices of his Raj Manufacturing Company in Tustin, Bhathal was reluctant to discuss his pursuit of Orlando’s franchise.

“I really don’t want to say anything,” Bhathal said. “Yes, I’m working with the league. That’s a fact. But right now anything else would have to come out of the league office.”

WLAF sources confirmed that Bhathal has visited Orlando twice recently--once with his wife, Marta, 45, an avid sportswoman--to study the market. He reached a handshake agreement with an unidentified Central Florida businessman to purchase the $11 million franchise, with Bhathal taking about 70%.

Sources said WLAF President Tex Schramm proposed Bhathal as Orlando’s managing general partner in a conference call meeting of his board Thursday and expects to announce the move next month when it is ratified by the NFL owners.

Schramm was traveling and could not be reached.

WLAF board member Mike Lynn, president of the Minnesota Vikings, said he could not confirm or deny that Bhathal had been proposed during the conference call. “We agreed not to talk about anything that was discussed,” Lynn said.

Former Orlando Renegades Coach Lee Corso, now a Central Florida realty executive and a football commentator with ESPN, was Bhathal’s host during the visits to Orlando and escorted him to the Florida Citrus Bowl offices Aug. 10 for a presentation. Corso would not name the potential franchise owners, but acknowledged that he would entertain an offer to become general manager of the team.

Paul Bartelt, of Pro Sports Management in Newport Beach, has been fronting Bhathal’s bid for a franchise and is in line to become assistant general manager.

Bhathal has quietly amassed a fortune with two companies. Raj Manufacturing, founded in 1963, produces swimsuits under Athena, Barefoot Miss and other labels. Canyon Bay Development Corporation includes hotel and residential projects in Arizona, Las Vegas and Southern California. Bhathal is a long-time season-ticket holder of the Rams.

“Mr. Bhathal is not a flashy person; he’s a hard-working, solid businessman,” said an associate who asked not to be identified.

Marta Bhathal, however, is a visible businesswoman and civic leader. A former scholarship golfer at UCLA, she is active with UC Irvine, the Irvine theater and is a director of The Bank of Orange County.

Roger Pratt, president of the bank, said Marta Bhathal frequently voiced her desire to own a pro football franchise.

“I don’t know her husband well,” Pratt said, “but Mrs. Bhathal is very dynamic--one of the most successful businesswomen in Orange County. They are quality people.”