Portland has taken one more step towards actually fielding an MLS team in 2011. The Mayor and Merritt Paulson, owner of the USL Timbers and AAA Portland Beavers, reached a tenative stadium renovation agreement yesterday.
This MLS to Portland ordeal is being drawn out longer than an American Idol results show. MLS initially awarded a club to the city in March and the principals (the city and club owner Merritt Paulson) have been squabling about stadium renovation financing ever since. First, there was an advisory committee that recommended a two stadium proposal (renovation for PGE Park and a new stadium for the soon-to-be displaced Triple-A baseball team), then the City did not approve that recommendation, then they decoupled the two stadiums from each other, and now it is just a PGE Park renovation proposal.
No vote has been scheduled has been scheduled but that appears a mere formality as the required three votes seem secure.. The renovations will be several million dollars less than originally proposed (but who knows if there will be overruns) at $31M. Paulson chips in $8M of his own money for the repairs and will prepay $11M of rent for the facility, leaving the city to finance another $11M, which the City will pay off with revenue from ticket sales and rent. Of note, Paulson gets out of this one without putting up a personal guaranty, which had been a part of the initial proposal.
It is not a done deal yet because there has been no vote on it and only an outline of the proposal has been made public. There is plenty of time to find holes in the plan and surely the vocal opponents will be looking very hard for any mistakes.
Friday, July 10, 2009
One Step Closer to MLS in Portland
Timbers Army In Sports Illustrated
The most recent Sports Illustrated arrived in the mail today. I opened up to the Leading Off section and was surprised to see the Timbers Army front and center from the US Open Cup match against Seattle Sounders last week.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Timbers and Sounders Match Had Plenty Of Atmosphere
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| From Timbers v. Sounders US Open Cup |
Despite the Portland Timbers' 2-1 loss to MLS side Seattle, last night's US Open Cup match at PGE Park in Portland was a good time. MLS executives will probably be drooling over the turnout and genuine soccer atmosphere at last night's match. The game was a sellout according to reports, although I did notice a space to fit in more people in the stands, not including the tarped off top 10 rows. (Who knows exactly why they did not open those seats up.) There was great fan support, and the match turned out to be pretty good despite Seattle not dressing some of its bigger names.
Sounders fans made the trek down to Portland to root on their team in large numbers standing outside the northeast entrance chanting quaint things like "We hate Portscum" and other things like that. Nobody ever said Seattle fans were very creative or smart.
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| From Timbers v. Sounders US Open Cup |
Joining the Sounders fans were lots of people trying to buy and sell tickets. Tickets were reportedly sold out and there was actually a ticket scalping market for a US Open Cup match in Portland. Amazing. It's unclear whether the scalpers were actually making money but I did hear one guy offer $45 for two tickets which were presumably the $12 general admission tickets ($17 on the day of the game).
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| From Timbers v. Sounders US Open Cup |
Even the viewing deck of the swanky Multnomah Athletic Club (MAC) on the south side of the field was packed with non-paying spectators. (For some reason the MAC members are all allowed to watch events at PGE Park without paying for tickets, there must be some sort of deal going on.) Fans lined the street on the west to get
a free peep at the action as well.
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| From Timbers v. Sounders US Open Cup |
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| From Timbers v. Sounders US Open Cup |
Inside most everything was orderly and I grabbed seats in a section right above the Timbers Army (TA) behind the north goal. TA was revved up for this match singing well before the match began, even doing a little chant for Timbers owner Merritt Paulson as he walked out on the pitch. Paulson gave a little wave and clap because he knows TA really helps sell his product.
There were even distasteful signs from the TA. A "Knulla Ljungberg" banner, which a quick google tells me is roughly "eff Ljungberg." It seems the sex was a little too rough as Seattle's DP was out injured for the match. Another one, shown earlier, exhorts University of Portland alum Kasey Keller to "Do the Cobain" with a shotgun drawing to further illustrate that they didn't mean become a hugely successful musician with an icon status. (Note: I found this to be in pretty poor taste, but I'm not one who can really be a judge of taste.)
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| From Timbers v. Sounders US Open Cup |
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| From Timbers v. Sounders US Open Cup |
The now-retired Timber Jim made two appearances. One in the flesh and one in cardboard. The latter being a giant Timber Jim carboard cutout, complete with chainsaw, cutting down the Space Needle. Needless to say, that was quite good. Unfortunately, I was behind it and it looked more like some weird fetish act, but there is a good video of it here.
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| From Timbers v. Sounders US Open Cup |
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| From Timbers v. Sounders US Open Cup |
After all of that, the game started. Seattle jumped on Portland with a goal in the first minute of the match after some poor marking left Roger Levesque free to head home the opener. During the goal celebration Nate Jaqua mimicked chopping Levesque down with an axe. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Portland looked rather ragged in the first half. It could not maintain possession and its backline looked like Real Madrid's against Barcelona. Seattle earned its second goal in the 27th minute as Stephen King knocked in a goal from the 18 that ricocheted off the left post and into the net. A sublime shot after the loose ball Portland could not close down.
Portland pulled one back in the 43rd minute when a loose ball was poked in by Mandjou Keita. It was nice heads up play by Portland's one decent offensive force. Keita narrowly missed a header in the eighth minute going only inches wide of Keller's post. If it had not been for Keita's goal before half, I fully expected the match to favor Seattle 4-0 or 4-1.
The second half was a much better affair as Portland started to maintain some possession, but lacked the quality in the final third. Portland's left back was dire, though. Missing markings and arguing about offside calls when he was caught ball watching. Portland had several good buildups but was never able to make the final pass or pull the trigger at the correct time.
Sigi Schmid, Seattle's manager, sensed some danger and inserted Fredy Montero, the Colombian rookie who has looked very promising this season. Montero was clearly a cut above the rest but he tried to do too much on his rather than work within the system. Lots of flash yesterday, but not much to show for it. Little did Portland fans know that the "Montero, no means no" chant could soon be directed at Nate Jaqua.
As the game went along, Seattle started with its stalling tactics. Sanna Nyassi, who previously played for Portland, flopped on the ground in the corner like a fish out of water. Nobody was around him and he just rolled around on the ground like somebody was rending his flesh. Portland's keeper, Steve Cronin, was very upset with Nyassi's histrionics. Yelling and gesticulating at him so much the ref waved him away. Then Nyassi continued to roll around to put out a non-existent fire.
Unfortunately, some fan decided to peg him with a water bottle. Deserving or not, that just cannot happen. But, it gave Cronin an excuse to run over at Nyassi, yell some more and pick up the water bottle. On his way back, Cronin gave the Timbers Army a nice smile and discrete thumbs up it appeared, but it was tough to tell. There was no debate that he was pleased that Nyassi had gotten a little comeuppance for his high school dramatic acting.
Despite the loss, TA continued to sing until the final whistle. I captured some video on my new phone, here and here. Overall, it was a successful piece of marketing for the Timbers and nice sales pitch as the team tries to convince Portland to pony up funds for a makeover for PGE Park. It had everything; a packed house, boisterous fans and enjoyable atmosphere. About the only thing more you could have asked for was a victory. That will come when the financial power is more equal. Read more on "Timbers and Sounders Match Had Plenty Of Atmosphere"...
Timbers v. Sounders, US Open Cup
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| From Timbers v. Sounders US Open Cup |
I just got home from the Portland Timbers v. Seattle Sounders Third Round match in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. It was a disappointing 2-1 loss for the hometown Timbers, but it was a great game and atmosphere. I'll try to write a bit up tomorrow and put some more photos up, but right now I'll give you the above banner at the game that was down in front of me in the Timbers Army. It's backwards but I'm sure you can figure it out.
After the jump a brief video of the Timbers Army singing/chanting in the dying moments of the game.
Read more on "Timbers v. Sounders, US Open Cup"...
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
MLS To Portland Soon To Become MLS to Montreal?
I know MLS announced its intent to expand the league to include a Portland Timbers club back in March, but I keep getting this nagging feeling that this deal is far from being completed and looking more likely to fall apart than to come together, which may lead to the MLS going to Montreal instead of Portland. This may just be the pessimist in me or maybe I'm following this a bit too closely, but it is my suspicion at this time.
Why?
Well, let me explain, but bear with me because it's long and convoluted.
Let me get the bullet point summary done first and then explain later.
- No stadium deal in place.
- MLS is still talking to Montreal.
- The Portland Mayor and MLS supporter-in-chief is still embroiled in a scandal.
MLS STILL TALKING TO MONTREAL
It just so happened to leak this weekend that the MLS and the Montreal group the league unceremoniously dropped during the preliminary stages of the expansion bids for deigning to challenge the expansion fee and trying to negotiate it are still discussing expansion. Oh and don't forget, it has slipped that Paulson is only paying a $35M expansion fee instead of the $40M fee that was set in stone by MLS.
I know that MLS has talked about further expansion since this current round of expansion, but I think that is more PR spin to make the league look good than it is a reality for two reasons. First, the player pool isn't big enough to field quality teams for all clubs. Second, the economy.
STADIUM DEAL NOT IMMINENT
There still isn't a stadium deal in place. The Timbers and MLS want the current stadium to be soccer specific, which will require roughly $30M in upgrades. This would also necessitate the AAA Beavers baseball team to be moved. The rub is there is no stadium right now for the team in Portland. Building a new baseball stadium will cost roughly $40M-$60M depending on the situs.
No agreement has been reached on the location of the baseball stadium. The city and the Timbers originally wanted to build it in the Rose Quarter which houses the current NBA team facility, the Rose Garden, and the old home for the Trailblazers as well, Memorial Coliseum. The Rose Quarter is in the city core so it is a very enticing area. The plan was to tear down the old home and build a minor league baseball park. However, that plan went up in smoke when veterans and architects objected. Who knew architects were so powerful?
Now the plan is back to square one, which is building a ballpark out in SE Portland...a long way from the city core and certainly not as enticing. Merritt Paulson has also stated if the stadium is built out there his current agreement on guarantees of revenue to repay the bonds that will be issued to pay for the projects will be off the table.
One of the big selling points of the original agreement were the guarantees and commitments of Paulson on revenue and cost overruns. These no longer exist since the Rose Quarter deal is off the table.
I'm riffing off of the top of my head right now, but I believe that essentially leaves Portland with Paulson paying the $35M-$40M expansion fee and the rest on the City of Portland. I'm not clear on this, but Paulson may still be willing to guarantee revenue and cost overruns on the potential Timbers home, but not on any baseball related venture if the stadium is placed elsewhere.
I can tell you right now, given the history of public projects in the City of Portland, that deal will not fly whatsoever. Mr. Paulson is going to have to put up more than that or give up his baseball franchise.
MAYOR STILL EMBROILED IN SCANDAL
Mayor Sam Adams of Portland is still embroiled a sex scandal. The Mayor has been the supporter-in-chief for the MLS bid, but this scandal has really weighed him down. The vote to approve the initial agreement was only 3-2 and it was a tenuous vote. The scandal will no doubt affect future votes on potential agreements as well as the Mayor's political power has taken a hit.
The short story of this scandal is that the Mayor had a sexual relation with a young man while he was just a City Councilor. The age at the time the sexual relationship began is in question because the Mayor met the boy when he was only seventeen but he turned eighteen within a few months of the initial meeting. Moreover, the Mayor lied about the relationship during his mayoral campaign.
The Oregon Attorney General is investigating and a report is due soon. The rumors are that it will be released very shortly and that it is a matter of when, not if, the mayor will resign. That said, it's just a rumor about the import of the report. But, there is already a recall campaign against the mayor that will certainly be stoked even more by this report regardless of its content.
AND, LOCAL COLUMNIST WRITES HITPIECE ON THE TIMBERS ARMY
This last bit probably won't have too much impact on the MLS bid, but Oregonian sports columnist just wrote a little hit piece on the Timbers Army, the die-hard supports of the Timbers. He chided them for being vulgar and drunk and not helping the club selling "family friendly" entertainment. Nothing groundbreaking, but certainly not helpful in selling the deal.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Wow, I just wrote a ton, but what does it all mean? I don't know yet, but my gut has been telling me for a while that this deal is going to fall apart. I hate that because I want an MLS club in my town, but the politics and the money don't work in this deal right now. You might be able to get by without one of those working, but both? I don't see it happening.
I give the bid a 40% chance of succeeding at this time. I'm a terrible prognosticator, which is why I don't gamble (that and I'm cheap), but it just feels like the foundation is beyond repair at this point. I hope I'm wrong. Read more on "MLS To Portland Soon To Become MLS to Montreal?"...
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Timbers Ticket Sales Underwhelming
Ticket sales for the inaugural Portland Timbers season in MLS do not seem to be going well. It was with much fanfare just three weeks ago that MLS announced Portland as its eighteenth expansion club. Portland’s strong fan support was one of the main reasons cited for granting Oregon’s largest city with a club. However, the famed Timbers fans don’t seem to be supporting the expansion bid with their pocketbooks as ticket sales are lagging.
Almost immediately after the March 20 expansion announcement, the Timbers began taking $50 deposits for the 2011 season tickets. The Vancouver Whitecaps expansion club announced March 18, slated to begin play in 2011 as well, accepted $50 deposits as well. Vancouver sold out its initial 5000 ticket allotment within 48 hours.
Portland’s sales have not gone as swimmingly. The Timbers front office is reluctant to release up-to-date figures, but does say that as of March 24 only 1,500 deposits had been taken by Portland—a far cry from Vancouver’s brisk sales. The team has also sold 1,000 Timbers 2009 season tickets, which also secure a 2011 season ticket deposit. The Timbers will not release more recent figures, but all told the club was 2,500 deposits short of Vancouver’s benchmark.
The organization is also aggressively marketing the 2011 season ticket deposits. Ads are appearing frequently on radio and internet noting that the first round of deposits will end April 30. Vancouver’s initial round is already closed.
Granted many fans may not be willing to fork out $50 now in a bad economy when there will likely be future opportunities to secure season tickets, this is certainly an inauspicious beginning for Merritt Paulson and the Timbers. They are already confronted with a $15 million hole in funding for the entire expansion. A recent Bloomberg News report also details the many difficulties Paulson will have in finding the additional funds. Local blogger Jack Bogdanski is also hammering the financial proposals by Paulson and the City and seems to be gaining some traction as the local daily has also cast a questioning eye towards the deal recently.
There is a long road ahead for Paulson and from the looks of it, the road could be more washboard than paved.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
So That $40M MLS Expansion Fee Was Negotiable
Remember when MLS first announced it was awarding two additional expansion clubs and that the price was going to be $40M for each club? Yeah, Montreal does, too.
It appears that despite pronouncements to the contrary the expansion fee was negotiable. Buried in this story about the Portland to MLS campaign missing one key ingredient--full funding--is the fact that Merritt Paulson, the Timbers owner, negotiated a discount on the expansion fee.Paulson also paid a $35 million franchise fee to Major League Soccer.
Montreal's bid was kicked to the curb by MLS in November for attempting to do the same thing Paulson did--negotiating the expansion fee--only from the outset.
I wonder if MLS regrets this move after seeing the 55,000 fans for a CONCACAF Champions League match involving an USL club? I bet it does.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Breaking News: MLS to Portland
While not confirmed officially, all signs are pointing to Portland being awarded the second MLS expansion bid on Friday. MLS has reserved a room at a local Hilton for a press announcement on Friday. Great news for yours truly since I live in Portland, but really not great timing since Portland will be hosting first round NCAA basketball tournament games on Friday for the first time in decades. But, whoever said MLS Execs were scheduling geniuses? Certainly not me.
Read more on "Breaking News: MLS to Portland"...Thursday, March 12, 2009
MLS Expansion Update
Yesterday, an unnamed source stated that Portland and Vancouver will receive the MLS expansion bids. It seems premature and MLS has hinted the decision may be delayed, but the Portland City Council approved a proposal yesterday for the Portland bid. It was the same deal detailed the other day with one huge difference. To secure the one city commissioner vote needed for approval, $15 million in funding from the city was pulled.
The amendment is a big deal out here, as many people have been up in arms that the city would put any money towards this deal when essential services are facing cuts due to the poor economy. It will at least buy some further support from the public. It remains to be seen if Merritt Paulson can locate the funds either privately or from another public source, but at least there is some public approval.
Of note, the local paper had a liveblog of the city council hearing about the MLS expansion proposal. The hearing started 9:30 in the morning and finished around 4:00 p.m. I'm not sure what that says about Portland. Either soccer is a big deal, this political issue is a big deal, or there isn't much news here. I'm going with the last one.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Quick Throw: MLS to Portland One Step Closer
The MLS to Portland cause has moved one-step closer to fruition. As of last night, Merritt Paulson, USL Portland Timbers owner, and the principal negotiator for City of Portland, Commissioner Randy Leonard, reached an agreement on paying for the stadium improvements. Paulson will come up with another $20 million or so and will guarantee much of the bond money the city is putting up for stadium improvements and pay for a portion of cost overruns.
Two more steps and Portland should have its very own MLS club. First, get a crucial third vote on the City Council to support the negotiated deal. Second, MLS chooses Portland. These are important issues, but given the nature and status of the other cities' bids and the new guarantees from Paulson the Junior, this will likely be one of the accepted bids from MLS. Now watch this be the jinx on this whole deal
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Quick Throw: Adios Miami
Breaking news on the MLS expansion front. MLS, FC Barcelona and Marcelo Claure have "jointly agreed" that Miami is no longer a candidate for an expansion club. Jointly agreed is like telling people you and your girlfriend mutually agreed to break-up. In other words, it's a lie because she broke up with you. Miami joins Atlanta and Montreal in withdrawing their bids, leaving St. Louis, Vancouver, Portland, and Ottawa to fight it out for the two spots.
Portland's task force is set to recommend today a proposal to the city council that would call for the Paulson bid to chip in an additional $20M, plus a personal guarantee on the bonds for stadium improvements. I imagine the expansion fee might also be in play now with demand slowly drying up.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Portland's MLS Expansion Bid - An UF Field Trip
Yesterday, Timbers supporters packed the City of Portland Council Chambers donning club colors and scarves as MLS and Merritt Paulson put on its dog and pony show for the City of Portland. It was the first meeting of the MLS Soccer/AAA Baseball Task Force, a group of private citizens who were selected to sift through Merritt Paulson's proposal to bring MLS to Portland and eventually provide a recommendation to the City Council before March 2009, the deadline MLS has set for the expansion bids.
The Merritt Paulson and MLS presentations were long on bromides and short on substance. The proposal, according to Paulson whose wife gave birth only the day before, will have a positive economic impact on Portland and enrich the community. He warned that public funding was necessary and this would be Portland's one chance at getting an MLS club. But, Paulson evaded a task force member's question on whether the Paulson family would individually guarantee the revenue that would be used to pay off bonds to finance the upgrades.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber put in his two cents saying MLS wants to come to Portland, although he probably tells this to all of the bidders. He praised Portland's passionate fanbase as evidenced by Timbers supporters grumbling at any suggestion that they would support and watch the Seattle MLS expansion club. Garber also noted that MLS did not consider the lack of local Fortune 500 companies to be a detriment to Portland given the "national" presence of MLS mentioning the Rio Tinto sponsorship in Salt Lake, although that was probably not the best choice considering Portland's political leanings the Rio Tinto's track record.
Garber again noted that PGE Park needed upgraded facilities and that only one of the MLS soccer specific stadiums was completely privately funded saying most were public/private ventures. The current proposal calls for only public money to upgrade the facilities of a publicly owned facility.
The one piece of new information came from Garber who indicated MLS is going to announce a "game" at a soccer specific stadium that will attract international attention to highlight the benefits of a soccer specific stadium. Garber gave no other details.
Mayor-elect and current council member Sam Adams appears supportive of the attempt to bring MLS to town, but cautioned that there is much work to be done in securing a development agreement and financing. Mayor-elect Adams acknowledged the current economic climate makes such a proposal difficult.
City Commissioner Randy Leonard also was supportive of the proposal so long as the proposed moving of the AAA baseball team is moved to the Lents neighborhood an area he has represented for many years.
The Task Force will meet bi-monthly until the March deadline, although it certainly won't have the attendance of this initial meeting. I will try to attend some of these meetings.
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