Every Timbers fan in the world braces for Wednesday morning, when the city council will vote up or down the plan for the PGE Park renovation and the construction of a new baseball stadium suitable for AAA baseball. As Matt Davis has reported, the MLS/AAA stadium task force voted unanimously in favor of the stadium plan, with conditions that I wholeheartedly support. In the greater world of MLS expansion, some cities are wavering in their support and others draw strength from the vacuum.
Seven years ago or so, a small group of people stood in the north end of PGE Park, banging on buckets and laundry bins as they rooted for the newest incarnation of the Portland Timbers. One good chap ordered up a batch of scarves, and thus began the Timbers Army. These scarves have grown to be the most prominent symbol of soccer in Portland, and 4,000 scarves have been sold. They're not available in stores, they move hand to hand, out of trunks and backpacks, sold for $8 and not for any profit. 4,000 scarves represent a movement that began as 15 people and has swelled to thousands, standing and singing for Portland and for the Timbers. In some ways, we represent many of the best characteristics of Portland—grassroots, involved in the community, fiercely protective, DIY-mad, and proud as hell that Portland is our home—and now we have a chance to help improve this city in a major way.
My final word on the MLS expansion battle, below the fold.
The Competition....Fails
Miami's mega-yacht of an expansion bid has been sunk by Hurricane Banking Collapse. After FC Barcelona expressed serious doubts about committing to an expansion team, Marcelo Claure, who might not be a billionaire anymore, started talking to the media, blaming Beckham's defection to Serie A. Hold on, wait a minute. One sell-out crowd of 13 year old girls is the only thing that kept your financial model in the black? Don Garber spent his 'vacation' pleading with FC Barcelona, but returned vanquished, announcing the deal was dead. Maybe it has something to do with Miami Dade county's 83,617 foreclosure filings in 2007 and 2008?
Miami's failure puts Vancouver BC's bid at the top of the list, with Portland a conditional second (the City Council needs to vote yes). If Vancouver wins an expansion franchise and the Council votes this measure down, the Portland Timbers may not exist in a season or two, as PTFC would be 1200+ miles away from the nearest other USL team (Minnesota). USL teams do not have the travel budgets to fly every team out to the Northwest for one game. This is a serious risk to professional soccer in Portland. The USL's shaky financial situation forces the Timbers into an evolve or die scenario, and if the MLS2PDX effort fails, professional soccer will not survive in Portland. That outcome is one that none but the most callous of douchebags would favor.
Why you should support MLS2PDX
I am not a city politics wonk. I can't tell you which, if any programs or budgets will be affected if the stadium plan is approved by the city council (though nothing I've read so far has enumerated such costs). I'm going to make the only credible pitch I can: as a fan of the Timbers and a lover of Portland.
— Portland has been a one-horse town for too long. People who lust for MLB or NFL or NHL or WNBA need to realize that a successful MLS club will help bring other sports to town, not hinder those efforts. An MLS team means that Portland will be shown nationwide in HD at least several times per year. It means traveling fans from Seattle (and possibly Vancouver), reinvigorating the oldest and fiercest rivalry in North American soccer history and spending money. (Matt, think Brentford, Fulham and QPR in the same league. Awesome, right?) It means great opportunities to organize international friendlies with huge teams from abroad with help from our two local shoe companies, who I hear have a good deal of influence. Those of us who have seen how full PGE Park is when Mexican Primera División teams come to town can only imagine the crowds if a Liverpool or a Real Madrid or an Inter Milan or a Bayern Munich came to visit. The US Soccer Association is always searching for attractive venues for the next World Cup, and a soccer-specific PGE Park would certainly be attract World Cup Qualifying matches, early round World Cup matches, and international friendlies. A temporarily modified PGE Park hosted 2003 Women's World Cup matches and those were amazing sights to behold. PGE Park is a special place.
— This is not a franchise owner ransoming a team for a billion dollar new stadium like the Yankees/Mets have, or the Sonics tried, or even the Dallas Cowboys. Notice how tough the City has been in negotiations with Paulson and company: Paulson is taking on a lot more risk and exposure than he wanted, and the City will make out like bandits from this deal. Furthermore, we're still talking about a relatively small amount of money. I applaud Paulson and company for engaging the city government and the citizenry in such a transparent negotiation process, seeking input from all sides and hiding nothing. Everything about this deal has been public, and this has spurred serious debate amongst supporters and detractors that has been largely civil. I think that Merritt Paulson understands what the Timbers and the Beavers mean to Portland. Keeping the teams in publicly owned stadia helps the city reap the benefits of the Timbers and Beavers and imbues the citizenry with an extended sense of ownership. Paulson doesn't want to build suburban stadiums in Hillsboro - He wants the Timbers and the Beavers to play in the heart of Portland. The city as a whole will be better if this deal goes through.
— Timbers fans aren't 100% of Portland Citizens. We're not yet 25% of the citizens of Portland. You know what? I think we're more than 2% of Portland. If 2% of Portland citizens show up to a home game at PGE park, after renovation, that's a sell-out crowd. Merritt Paulson's revenue projections only need 1% of Portland to show up: 15,000 people. Perhaps the counter argument is 'why spend all this money on something only 2% of Portland will use?' Throw in the casual Timbers fans and Beavers fans of all stripes, and we'll round that up to 5% of Portland. 5% of Portland will enjoy the sports experiences resulting from this plan. Detractors are screaming about jobs and schools and homeless shelters and yes, the world is not yet perfect. My point is that everything about this deal is small: $85 million can't be more than 5% of the city's bonding capacity, and the plan insists that the city's general fund NEVER be tapped. MLS2PDX won't cure cancer or teach children to read or give every human a job, but it will employ a few hundred people in good jobs, infuse the local economy with a little more money, and make Portland a little better. This shouldn't be such a big fucking deal. There are so many nattering nabobs of negativism mouthing off about this issue it boggles my mind. We get this city's economy moving by doing lots of little things, like this, and roads and bridges. A businessman wants to spend $40 million of his own money to make PDX better. Let's let him be part of Portland's New Deal.
— Timbers fans are citizens of Portland, just like everyone else. Too often are we regarded as outsiders, or non-voters, or somehow not members of the citizenry. We are not drooling troglodytes, foaming at the mouth for violence. We are doctors, lawyers, government officials, students young and old, builders, teachers, office drones, chefs, postal workers, truck drivers, cabbies, writers, coders, musicians, brewers, baristas, reporters, and lumberjacks. We are Anglo, Afro, Latino, Native, and Asian Americans, native Portlanders and new immigrants - to America or just to Portland. We support the Timbers not because they're a soccer team, but because they are Portland's soccer team. To quote an anonymous member of the Timbers Army (poaching a movie):
Rose City 'til I Die.
