'Soccer City USA' with no MLS team

AreliusIII · 01-09-2006, 03:43 PM

http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/sports/113677711046990.xml&coll=7

oussan · 01-10-2006, 10:27 PM

I'd love to see a team in Portland. In my mind, MLS is a much better investment than MLB or NHL. I really think that soccer is on the rise in this country, and that a "less-wealthy owner" would do well to buy some stock before franchise fees "increase significantly."

Maybe the stadium situation in Portland is the bigger issue?

realPDX · 01-11-2006, 11:48 AM

wow, im impressed with that article. it outlines exactly the problems with portland. its funny being from salt lake and going to school at the university of portland. we sold out our quarter final against notre dame in 6 minutes!!! the town is a complete soccer town. but for some reason it just does not seem like a mls team will ever be there. the biggest issue is the owner. there isnt a single person that wants to be an owner in portland. if portland does get a mls team i think its going to be like salt lake. someone with grass roots connections to the city who is rich and passionate enough about the sport to some day, out of the blue, lay down the expansion fee and get a team in the city. the team will probably have to play at PGE park because there is NO place else for a soccer team to play. PGE park has an awkward lay out and with the baseball season going the same time as soccer, will raise some serious issues. the owner will also have to have some political pull, similar to checketts to get the idea of a stadium rolling which is the second biggest issue. stadium planning would have the exact same problems as here in salt lake. ideally the stadium would go downtown as it would be beautiful and amazing, but there is no land downtown. another problem is land costs, which are insanely expensive (much more so than salt lake city) because there is no sales tax and property is $$$$$$$$$$. that means that the stadium is going to have to go out in a suburb somewhere which has its pros and cons, all of which have been discussed to death on this board and BS boards.

i think (MLS) soccer in portland could and probably would be wildly successful like in salt lake. portland has already proved that it is a soccer city which is something salt lake had to do and did quite convincingly. the support the city has give to my university's WOMENS soccer team is amazing. after we won the national championship the city gave us a parade and big party downtown. the portland timbers are fairly successful, near mirror images of the blitzz. usmnt & uswnt games here in portland have also been very successful (even when mexico's wmnt played u o portland's lady's team last year it was a huge success). portland has produced some amazing soccer talent (see kasey keller, conor casey, chris brown :D , steve cherundolo, christine sinclair, nate jaqua, kelly gray, heath pearce, alejandor salezar, tiffany milbrett, shannon macmillan etc etc) and the fans just love chewing this up.

portland is in the same boat as salt lake was and its going to have to pull a "salt lake" to get a mls team there. if (and maybe when) they get a team, im sure it will be successful. i wouldnt be surprised to see a portland team 10 or so years down the line.

prk166 · 01-11-2006, 06:16 PM

Portland and Oregon's attempts at enacting strict "smart growth" laws didn't help much with land prices either. Maybe if an investor can be found they can get around the problem by plopping the team into Vancouver, WA? Or would that be too tough for most folks to get to?

realPDX · 01-13-2006, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prk166

Portland and Oregon's attempts at enacting strict "smart growth" laws didn't help much with land prices either. Maybe if an investor can be found they can get around the problem by plopping the team into Vancouver, WA? Or would that be too tough for most folks to get to?

that might be a bit of a stretch, especially considernig how horrific traffic conditions are getting from portland to vancouver. I-5 from portland to vancouver is insane at all times of the day and the bridge into washington slows traffic down to a halt. rush hour is pretty much 24-7 in the portland metro area. the ironic thing is that many people live in vancouver and commute to portland where they work because it is cheaper. that might be changing with gas prices, but its still very common. i dont think having a "portland" team operate out of vancouver would be a viable idea. too many intangibles.