LumberJax owner learns her chops at early age

PORTLAND – Portland LumberJax owner Angela Batinovich has already heard she’s just a rich kid whose daddy bought her a lacrosse team, and that she’s only in it for the publicity.

She has already been slammed because of her age and gender.

So it’s a good thing the 25-year-old, believed to be the youngest female owner of a professional sports franchise, has thick skin.

“It doesn’t bother me because if that was the way it really was, and everything were run by my dad, and I just did whatever, then it would probably bother me more,” she said.

“If anything goes wrong, it’s always, ‘Well, she’s young, she doesn’t know what she’s doing.’ But if it’s a success, ‘Well, really, her dad’s the brains.’ ”

The Portland LumberJax, in their inaugural season, are part of the 11-team men’s National Lacrosse League, now in its 20th season. Batinovich bought the expansion team last May for some $1.5 million.

After working many 16-hour days, Batinovich has calluses on her fingers. During a recent interview, she wore no makeup and her blonde hair was pulled back into an askew ponytail.

Batinovich was annoyed. She had already scolded the LumberJax dancers for being too suggestive, now it was a stories-high billboard of a blonde dressed in a LumberJax jersey (and apparently nothing else) with the team’s slogan “Who Wants Some?”

While Batinovich worried she would turn away families, the LumberJax, for the most part, are doing things right.

The Jax, as they’re called, had a Web site, chat boards and merchandise for sale long before the team took the field. The dancers sport flannel shirts and chainsaws in a promotional poster.

Television spots highlighted the more rough-and-tumble aspects of the sport – basically men beating their opponents with sticks. Then there’s that provocative slogan.

The edgy approach works.

The home opener at the Rose Garden – also home of the Trail Blazers – drew nearly 10,000 fans. Lines at the box office for game-day tickets stretched more than 30 fans deep.

The least expensive tickets, for $10, quickly ran out. The no-nonsense Batinovich heard afterward and fumed, and for the next game the upper bowl of the Rose Garden Arena was opened so additional seats could be sold.

Batinovich is the daughter of Northern California real estate baron Robert “Bat” Batinovich.