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| Nickname(s) | The Timbers |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2009 |
| Stadium | PGE Park Portland, OR |
| Owners | Shortstop, LLC |
| Supporters groups | Timbers Army |
The Portland Timbers will be an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon that, according to an announcement in March 2009, will begin play in Major League Soccer in 2011. The team will replace the USL First Division's team of the same name, while retaining the same ownership. The MLS club will be the fourth Portland team to share the heritage of the Timbers name.
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History
The announcement was the culmination of a nearly two-year-long process for Merritt Paulson, dating back at least to May 2007, when Paulson led a group that bought the Portland Beavers and the USL Timbers; the group included Henry Paulson, his father, who holds a 20% stake.[1] The biggest issue for the city of Portland was that due to league concerns about seating configuration, field surface, and scheduling, obtaining an MLS franchise would require a new stadium.[2]
In October 2007, Paulson told PGE Park could be upgraded for about $20 million, and a new baseball stadium (with 8,000 to 9,000 seats) would cost about $30 million.[3] By November 2008, Paulson told The New York Times he expected Portland taxpayers would spend $85 million to "build a new baseball stadium for his Beavers and renovate PGE Park—just remodeled in 2001 at a cost to taxpayers of $38.5 million—for soccer", and that in exchange, he would spend $40 million for the franchise fee to bring a new Major League Soccer team to Portland.[1] MLS was in support of the proposal, wanting to continue to expand the number of owners in the league (for a while, all of its teams were owned by three men: Phil Anschutz, Lamar Hunt, and Robert Kraft).[1]
Supporting the MLS franchise raised numerous issues for Mayor Sam Adams and the Portland City Council, in spite of a subsequent commitment from Paulson that Shortstop LLC would contribute $12.5 million towards stadium construction. In order to justify the $88.8 million of city dollars Shortstop LLC wanted for PGE Park renovation and Beavers relocation, the city had to assume that Paulson's revenue projections were accurate (e.g. "2011 ticket revenues from baseball will be 95 percent higher than revenues in 2008"), cut some street maintenance and cleaning, and cut about $150,000 from the streetlight budget.[4] The city's use of existing urban renewal district funds and establishment of a new district that "stretches the statutory requirement that a district suffer urban blight" creates budgetary and potentially legal problems and drain millions of dollars from Multnomah County's general fund.[4]
The Portland franchise was announced as Major League Soccer's eighteenth team on March 20, 2009 by Commissioner Don Garber.[5] The announced time to occurred in the middle of the first and second round games of the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament being held in Portland the same week.[6] The announcement noted that the team would retain the Portland Timbers name.[7]
The team owner is Shortstop, LLC, a group led by Merritt Paulson. The group also owns the USL-1 Timbers as well as the Pacific Coast League's Portland Beavers.
Stadium
Portland will be playing in a newly-renovated PGE Park, which they expect to share with the Portland State Vikings football team. The stadium's other tenant, the Beavers, will be moving to a new ballpark in another part of the city. Initially, city funding for renovation of PGE Park was tied to simultaneous construction of the new ballpark; but due to delays caused by public criticism of ballpark sites chosen so far and a deadline to begin PGE Park renovation, the funding for the two projects was separated.[8] The capacity of the renovated PGE Park is expected to be between 22,000 and 23,000.[9]
Rivalries
- The Portland Timbers are expected to continue a long-running Seattle-Portland Rivalry with Seattle Sounders FC.
- The Vancouver Whitecaps, the other Cascadian USL-1 team joining MLS in 2011, who will compete along with Portland and Seattle Sounders FC in the "Cascadia Cup".[10]
- Portland will likely join the Heritage Cup, a derby formed in 2009 among MLS teams that carry on the names of their NASL predecessors. Currently the Heritage Cup is played between the San Jose Earthquakes and Sounders FC, with the Whitecaps likely to join alongside the Timbers.
References
- ^ a b c Jaquiss, Nigel (November 26, 2008). "Paulson’s Pitch". Willamette Week. http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=24286. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ Larabee, Mark (May 29, 2009). "Beavers must move out of PGE Park, league says". The Oregonian. http://blog.oregonlive.com/portlandcityhall/2009/05/beavers_must_move_out_of_pge_p.html. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ Gerald, Paul (October 31, 2007). "PDX’s Ball Bearings". Willamette Week. http://wweek.com/editorial/3351/9893/. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ a b Jaquiss, Nigel (March 11, 2009). "Soccertown Or Suckertown". Willamette Week. http://wweek.com/editorial/3518/12300/. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ "MLS awards 18th franchise to Portland". mlsnet.com. 2009-03-20. http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090320&content_id=228140&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ Paulson, MLS Seeking National Ink With Friday Announcement, a March 18, 2009 article in Willamette Week
- ^ "MLS awards team to Portland for 2011". Portland Timbers. 2009-03-20. http://portlandtimbers.com/newsroom/headlines/index.html?article_id=1108. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
- ^ Larabee, Mark (2009-06-24). "Major League Soccer plan still alive as Portland council endorses latest plan". The Oregonian. http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/06/major_league_soccer_plan_still.html. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
- ^ http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/08/renovated_pge_park_will_showca.html
- ^ "Expansion team? Not in Carey's eyes". MLSnet.com. http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090316&content_id=226061&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
External links
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