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Timbers to host Rose City Invitational preseason tournament

WillJohnson2 (PortlandTimbers)

By DAN KARELL

Before hosting the Major League Soccer All-Star game or their first regular season game of the 2014 calendar year, the Portland Timbers will be hosting their third-annual preseason tournament, the Rose City Invitational.

Between Feb. 23 and March 1, the Timbers will face the San Jose Earthquakes, Vancouver Whitecaps, and Jamaican club Portmore United in friendly matches at Jeld-Wen Field prior to their MLS regular season home opener on March 8 against the Philadelphia Union. Current Timbers right back Alvas Powell is on loan from Portmore United.

Prior to the Rose City Invitational, the Timbers will visit Tuscon, Ariz. for a 15-day camp from Jan. 30 to Feb. 15. The Timbers are scheduled to face Sporting Kansas City, the Houston Dynamo, the Seattle Sounders, and NASL team Indy Eleven at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson.

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What do you think of this news? Plan on attending the Rose City Invitational? Surprised at the high amount of preseason games?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Is there a list of all the preseason locations that MLS teams will be in?

    I know there’s now Portland, Arizona, Charleston, Orlando…anywhere else?

    Reply
  2. Hmm, true I wasn’t considering the timing of the playoffs, just the overlapping of the seasons overall. Wasn’t there an article on here a month ago talking about how average tv viewership actually went DOWN this last year, and fell below the WNBA? (or maybe that was attendance, I can’t remember)

    When I hear something like that I have a hard time believing that viewership will go up for the duration of a season when it’s competing with so many other sports. I’m not sure how advertising dollars work, if they’re more for playoff games and specific matchups, or if it’s a lump sum for whatever number of games. If more networks/advertisers pay more for those “important” games, then yeah MLS would make more by switching schedules. But my gut feeling is it would be harding to take those advertising dollars and network time from those other sports, thus shrinking the league’s exposure, and eventually the money, and we have to go through another contraction. With the addition of more Southern teams it seems like we can’t keep playing in the dead of summer, pointing to an eventual change in the calendar. I don’t know as much as the guys running MLS, so I just hope they know what theyre doing! 🙂

    Reply
  3. The Sounders play on field turf. I moved to Seattle and had never played on field turf in the winter until last night. The field was totally frozen over, players were constantly falling and slipping everywhere due to the thin layer of frost on top.

    No way can Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, Denver, KC, Columbus, Chicago, NY, New England, Montreal, and Toronto, play during January, February, and maybe even early March in those cold conditions. SilverRey is right, attendance would probably drop in the winter too.

    Let’s also consider tv viewing competition vs the NFL, College Football, the NCAA Tournament, and the NBA. I don’t see it happening in my lifetime. MLS is much more likely to succeed on TV against only MLB and the tail end of the NBA. I don’t see why the US has to adopt the same calendar as Europe. Can someone explain why it’d be better for soccer in the US to adopt the international calendar?

    Reply
    • I, for one, think that the eventual move to an international calendar makes all the sense in the world. In fact, your final paragraph bb is an outstanding argument to make the switch. The most exciting months of the MLS season are the end of the regular season when playoff spots are at stake, the playoffs themselves, and the MLS Cup. Currently, the competition for TV viewership of sporting events during those months includes MLB playoffs and World Series, the start of the NBA and NHL, and – the 800 pound gorilla in the US at present – both college football and the NFL.
      Imagine having the MLS playoffs and MLS Cup in May (or even early June depending on the year). Competition then would be early season MLB (yawn), the NBA, and the NHL (regional sport). It’s a much more attractive time and would command much more attention.
      Nobody should believe that MLS will be playing games in late December or January or even early February outdoors in places like Montreal, Chicago, Columbus, or Colorado. A winter break would be necessary. The key here is managing and minimizing the winter break. Part of the solution will be to have more MLS teams stationed in warmer climates hospitable to playing in December and February. Clearly, all indications are that more warm weather teams are coming (Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, ?San Antonio). Once more warm weather teams are in the league it will be easier to schedule games during the end of the fall season (early December) and the beginning of spring season (late February) at warm weather venues. As an added bonus, it’s actually much more attractive to go to a game in someplace like Miami or Orlando or Houston in late February than the scorching heat of July.
      Finally, small tournaments featuring international teams on winter break (from Serie A, Bundesliga, etc) could be scheduled during the winter break and provide another bridge to manage the proposed winter break and continue to draw attention to the league and the game. These small tournaments could take place at the warmer venues and could attract a lot of attention.
      MLS Cup last week of May or first week of June. Break for international competition in June/early July. Start up the fall season at the end of July. The playoffs gain more attention, there is no significant increase in cold weather games, and, in fact, the playoff and MLS Cup are likely to be played in very nice weather no matter where held.
      I appreciate the opposite view (that MLS should not switch the schedule), but I think if it’s properly managed there shouldn’t be an increase in cold games and it could significantly benefit TV ratings and the league.

      Reply
      • Hmm, true I wasn’t considering the timing of the playoffs, just the overlapping of the seasons overall. Wasn’t there an article on here a month ago talking about how average tv viewership actually went DOWN this last year, and fell below the WNBA? (or maybe that was attendance, I can’t remember)

        When I hear something like that I have a hard time believing that viewership will go up for the duration of a season when it’s competing with so many other sports. I’m not sure how advertising dollars work, if they’re more for playoff games and specific matchups, or if it’s a lump sum for whatever number of games. If more networks/advertisers pay more for those “important” games, then yeah MLS would make more by switching schedules. But my gut feeling is it would be harding to take those advertising dollars and network time from those other sports, thus shrinking the league’s exposure, and eventually the money, and we have to go through another contraction. With the addition of more Southern teams it seems like we can’t keep playing in the dead of summer, pointing to an eventual change in the calendar. I don’t know as much as the guys running MLS, so I just hope they know what theyre doing! 🙂
        [and sorry for the double post]

  4. This is exactly what i mean, once MLS gets 24 teams and switch to the international.calendar, many mls or nonmls.markets can host invitational tournaments during the winter break. If portland can do it in early february, why cant houston, phoenix, tucson, san diego, hawaii, southeast cities do it.
    I think once MLS huts 24 teams, they can switch their schedule to the international and even be.a better league.

    Reply
    • I would like to see more pre-season tournaments and matches around the country. I’m hoping that with MLS and NASL expansion the US Open Cup will give us more opportunities to see some MLS teams play a road game in some smaller markets.

      Reply
    • That’s an easy thing to say from El Paso. Try going up to Toronto in February, or even Columbus, DC, Philly. I wouldn’t want to play at that point of the year, let alone sit in the stands. To me, the MLS Cup was a fiasco. How many players went down with injuries in the first 20 min. from the cold?

      Reply

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