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MLS Ticker: Rapids add Marshall, Timbers reach ticket mark, and more

Tyrone Marshall (ISIPhotos.com)

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

The defending MLS Cup champion Colorado Rapids have started the new year by adding some defensive depth.

The Rapids announced the signing of veteran defender Tyrone Marshall on Monday. Colorado acquired Marshall's rights in the second phase of the MLS Re-Entry Draft last month. A 13-year MLS veteran who began his career in Colorado, Marshall most recently spent two years with the Seattle Sounders.

In other MLS news:

Portland ticket sales pass 10K

The Portland Timbers have surpassed 10,000 in season ticket sales, and have already sold out its allotment of stadium suites, the club announced on Monday.

The Timbers also announced that the club will cap their season ticket sales at 12,000.

Cunningham testing waters in Europe

Jeff Cunningham, the second-leading scorer in MLS history, is ready to search Europe for a contract as he makes full use of his free agent status.

After turning down an offer from the Columbus Crew, and subsequently having his counter-offer turned down, Cunningham is now set to train with Danish club Randers as he pursues a contract.

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What do you think of these developments? Surprised to see Colorado add Marshall, or think he adds good depth? Think Cunningham will catch on in Europe, or do you see him returning to MLS in 2011?

Share your thoughts below.

 

Comments

  1. It appears you don’t know the stadium that well or the environs around it. There is not space to build extra facilities in a 1926 stadium. The 20th and 18th streets plus the conditions placed on it by the original owners, the MAC club, limit the options.

    The facilities were fine for 1970 standards and thus 30k inside were fine, but by today’s standards those expectations have vastly increased over those times.

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  2. They’ll move Marvell Wynne back to rightback likely. But, strangest thing to me is labeling them “dirty.” Playing hard and taking cards are part of the game or there wouldn’t be yellow, just red.

    It may be boring, but the fact is the best clubs defend first, especially with an Englishman at the helm.

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  3. i have always truly hated that this stadium has more seats than they allow people to sit at. why build the seats if you aren’t going to fill them? why not build extra facilities to accommodate for total capacity since they are adding those seats right now in the first place. i really do not understand the point behind adding seats you won’t use.

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  4. Trivalry makes sense, as long as Vancouver plays the younger brother who the other two notice but don’t really take seriously hahaha

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  5. The PDX stadium has a great atmosphere, I was there for a US Nat game.

    I don’t like the Timber’s Army but that is because I am a Sounder. A credit to them.

    Great news about the ticket sale. They will almost surely sell out. I wonder if you will start to see a bump in other cities too.

    Vancouver will have huge attendance. I heard they have sold over 15k season tickets. Expected. They had great NASL attendance, and the city is beyond rich.

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  6. The stadium is not far from Trendy-third [NW 23rd St.], and the Tanner Creek area is a good part of town near Washington Park.

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  7. Around 20k with a true capacity at 24k. The reason for the lower capacity for soccer has more to do with the stadium being old with narrow causeways and difficultly with ingress and egress. They don’t want to make the experience bad for some by having a sour time at PGE Park. Concessions and bathrooms would be extremely packed at 24k.

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  8. Hey that is nice of them to cap it, it will make it easier for out of town guests to get tickets.
    How many is the new place going to hold?

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  9. The real choice was between a $200 million dollar stadium the city [nor any other city in the region] would *never* pay for, or a $31 million renovation and a $100 million +/- AAA baseball stadium.

    Your car wont get keyed, it’s too hard to tell the difference between all the Vancouver/Camas tax free shoppers and a flounder.

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  10. Sadly, because of this buffoon [http://www.examiner.com/soccer-in-seattle/so-far-timbers-whitecaps-no-match-for-sounders-fc-season-ticket-sales] I must invoke some comparisons

    PDX metro: 2.2 million
    SEA metro: 4.0 million (+81% difference)

    Jan 2011 PTFC: 10k
    Jan 2009 SSFC: 19k (+90% difference)

    Well, in ratios, they’re up 9%. Woopee!

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  11. Good to see Portland selling tickets. The only gripe I have about Portland is their old stadium. Assuming the new stadium field has a width large enough for grown ups to play on, then Portland is doing everything right. I love that Portland decided to remodel their current downtown location instead of moving to a suburb. Makes it easy as a Seattle fan to head down, get a hotel room, hit the bar, and take in the match. With luck, my car won’t get keyed.

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  12. In the USL days a lot of tickets were single game-day tickets. Especially among the Timbers Army. Plus, it was already stated that they wanted to allow as many people as possible to see a game during the first season, which means holding down the number of season tickets. With less than 4 months before the first home opener they could easily get up to 14k or more but will choose not to it appears.

    Note, for a city with this kind of wealth and population size [I mean it’s not a lot for both] to have this many STH is amazing! However, it’s not surprising given the numbers the Blazers have had since the ’77 championship.

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