Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber is in Portland this morning to announce the 18th franchise in MLS and Portland has been selected as the lucky city.
Just a day after Seattle made an amazing debut in MLS, Portland will join Vancouver as one of the two cities chosen to be awarded teams set to begin play in 2011.
The decision puts an end to a lengthy expansion process that saw several markets in the United States and Canada make pitches to join MLS. St. Louis and Ottawa ended up as the runner-ups in a race that has resulted in the creation of a cluster of teams in the Pacfic Northwest that should provide MLS with some amazing rivalries.
The announcement of Portland as Major League Soccer newest franchise will take place at 1pm. You can follow the ceremony on the MLS website.
What do you think of Portland being chosen? Wish it had been St. Louis? Loving the Portland-Seattle-Vancouver inclusion in MLS? Ready to start planning some trips to the Pacific Northwest?
Share your thoughts below.
As a person who has wanted to wear a St. Louis MLS jersey since the beginning of the league, I am terribly disappointed in the MLS. As a person who wants to see soccer succeed in America and become a mainstream support, and with the display Seattle put on last night, I am kind of excited.
I have been to Old Trafford and seen 70,000 Red Army fans yelling. Although I do not think we will get like that, last night definetly brought back some memories.
The St. Louis group needs to rethink their entire proposal. I have been against the stadium deal we have in place simply because it is almost an hour from the population center of the city, West County, to the stadium. Get a plan together with deeper pockets, a better stadium location, and an AB corporate sponsorship much like Seattle has with Microsoft, and I am sure 2012 will have 25,000 plus screaming fans as St. Louis defeats their first opponents.
second that mike. this will create great rivalries. don’t know much about vancouver’s fanbase but portland’s will rival toronto’s and seattle’s.
I think these are great moves and locations.
“So I guess my question now is this…is the only way to get into the MLS via the USL?”
So, it turns out there IS promotion/relegation in US soccer! Well, promotion, at least. And, in grand American style, its based on how much money you got, rather than how well you do!
Portland and Vancouver are terrific choices. Two great USL-1 cities set to follow in Seattle’s footsteps by moving up to MLS. By comparison, Philadelphia seems like an untested market, but hopefully they will succeed, too.
I hope the St. Louis and Ottawa ownership groups will consider USL-1. It would be great to have more teams in that league now that three are moving to MLS.
John Smith: KC played in Community America Ballpark last year and will play there again until their new home is completed.
Their published attendance average of 10,686 exceeds the listed capacity of 10,385.
Homey: great observation about USL. There have been a few articles on the effects of Toronto, Seattle, Vancouver and Portland leaving for MLS, but not many. After 2012, when MLS hits 20 teams, I think we’ll see the ‘gaps’ filled in with USL clubs.
ya’ll are smoked out of your minds if you think MLS wants anything to do with the southeastern united states right now… it just is not going to happen. Who’s it going to be? Atlanta? Miami? Charleston, SC? Raleigh, NC? Durham? Charlotte? Nashville, TN? Louisville, KY anyone? Didn’t think so. St. Louis Definitely needs a team. They just need to get their ish COMPLETELY TOGETHER.
As a Seattle fan, I’m ecstatic about the additions of PDX and the ‘couv. I look forward to many years of great rivalries.
“Ives, are there any rumblings about Spokane or Eugene getting the next franchise?”
Actually, I’ve heard it’s Walla Walla that’s next.
As a DC United Fan, I am very happy about the expansion into Portland and Vancouver. Their fans know soccer, and it will help build the sport in the US and Canada. These are very exciting times to be an MLS fand, let alone a US soccer fan. Vamos MLS!!!!!!
@Ian the financial backing that MLS is worried about is for the long run. Not all teams are profitable yet and new expansion franchises have to lay out huge money for the expansion fee, stadium building costs and then still be able to keep the team afloat for the next 5 to 10 years before you start making a profit. Yes, Anheuser-Busch InBev has signed up to help with the stadium but they haven’t committed any long term financial support. This is the sticking point for MLS. Just look at the effects the economic downturn is having on the Philly franchise and Jay Sugarman’s financial outlook. MLS wants to make sure they don’t award a team to an ownership group that is going to struggle in the long-term.
So I guess my question now is this…is the only way to get into the MLS via the USL? I guess kudos to those USL teams who are willing to pony up the cash to make the jump to MLS, but what is the USL getting out of this? Are the USL happy about these moves? Are they upset? Will the USL get more ownership groups coming to them hoping to achieve what Portland, Vancouver and Seattle have done? Is the USL the feeder league to an MLS franchise? Lots of questions that no one seems to be asking.
Ives, get on it!
MLS needs to lock the expansion fee for St. Louis now. They have been ready to go since it was $30 million.
Ya know, Im overhere in VA, but im probably not far off in saying that with the dedication and passion Portland sport fans in general, not to mention Timbers fans, have shown that if they have to pay taxes they’re probably fine with it going to something like their dream come true for the city instead of the other bogus things they go toward all over the country…haha
@kpugs the “small corner” of the country is no different than the three California teams, the soon to be four northeastern teams, or the two Texas teams. I lived in England for a while and the best thing about going to the football matches is the fans that travel and create an awesome atmosphere in the stadium with both sets of fans trying to get the better of the other. It’s almost like two games are going on, one in the field and one off it. Adding teams that already have natural and fierce rivalries from the USL days is great. The PNW derbies will always be lively and great for the game of soccer here in the US. Now would someone tell me why KC still has a team (they averaged less than 11,000/game last year)? Move them to St. Louis!
what the f@#k does STL have to do to get an MLS franchise!? blah history blah, that’s all well and good, but i wanna know where all of this skepticism of our financial backing is coming from. anheisure-busch-inbev just got behind it for a stadium (plus collinsville as far as i know was going to okay the SSS as soon as we were awarded a franchise, so that’s TWO options for a SSS) plus albert pujols, a leader in the community as well as the best hitter in baseball, is part of our ownership group. what other part of our act do we have to get together!?
i am extremely disappointed in MLS, and at this point would rather support a USL-1 side than MLS after continually getting snubbed by don garber and his minions. we should have been an original franchise. best of luck tony glavin (he wants a USL-1 side for STL), hopefully the USL won’t dick you around like MLS has continued to dick Jeff Cooper and Co. around.
I think it is fantastic – may be enough to make me move from DC back to my hometown! The Pacific Northwest rivalry is great and kudos for recognizing that there isn’t as much major sport competition in Portland, Seattle and Vancover. For Portland, the blazers and Timbers will be the only game in town. No competition with professional football or baseball. That’s a huge advantage and one of the reasons the Blazers have always had such a tremendous following.
Good news. Having Vancouver and Portland in the league now that Seattle is here will only make MLS more exciting. Let’s hope they can put together as good a team as Seattle has done.
You cannot stop us! We are the Rose City!
I think the next two expansion slots should go to Montreal and St Louis.
Yikes that’s a woefully ignorant comment by fubar. Where to start…the guilt by association nonsense? Too easy. How about the insinuation that Paulson is receiving the team as a gift rather than forking over $40 million in expansion fees plus personally guaranteeing the repayment of any revenue shortfalls related to the bonds for stadium construction. Educate yourself before commenting, please.
fubar…who is the whiny cry baby? Look in the mirror. It would also be nice if you knew anything about finance and what Paulson has actually done for us NOT to be in 1929, but hey its fun to bash someone because of their father! Go spread that crap somewhere else….you won’t find a buyer here.
I think MLS in general would be reluctant to have Chivas USA re-brand itself and move anywhere but elsewhere in L.A. or in San Diego or Las Vegas. It might be seen as a failure if they did that.
comparing goldman sachs to the timbers, a somewhat substantial part of it’s community, is, ummm, just dumb.
The Pacific NW Triangle! Great move by MLS. Add three teams that already have solid fan bases as witnessed last night, and already hate each other, and are within driving distance!
I love it.
I’m not worried about expanding too fast if teams like Seattle are going to be the ones being added. Portland and Vancouver will have just as much hype and passion I believe because they are not just creating a team out of thin air with no history. They already have a team from the USL and a following of hardcore fans. The league is getting stronger and stronger and growing faster and faster.
Exciting.
Merritt Paulson (son of Hank Paulson) deserves NOTHING!!! STL got the shaft big time. This whiny cry baby should join his dad and go into hiding for the next ten years. Disgraceful what Goldman Sachs has done to our country. First, the US taxpayer and now the Portalnd taxpayer are paying for this team out of our own pockets. This is disgusting.
chivas to st louis!
nobody’s expanding just to expand… else we’d have and atlanta team in a market that can’t support a usl squad and a spanish football club owned team in florida… a state that couldn’t support two mls franchises and now a usl side.
i find it interesting when people say things like,: “yeah, we should have a team in Atlanta, then we should get a team in nashville in order to have a natural rivalry.”
people, GET A USL side, prove that you have the fans to get butts in the seats and have a rivalry, AN ACTUAL RIVALRY, witha team or two that already exist.
with the three nw teams you get: 6 automatic sellouts per year, EXISTING and passionate fanbases to nurture, and exciting twlevision for matches. those three teams will feed off each other, on and off the field. i can’t wait to see what stops are pulled out for the Caps and Timbers inagural match. after what seattle pulled off last night, PDX and Vancouver had better step up their game.
anyway, go Timbers!
How are the conferences going to work? 10 teams in the West and 8 in the East?
Kpugs,
The league is in its 14th season, so the administrative and financial management can’t be that bad. They’ve expanded into markets that will SUPPORT SOCCER, and that is what’s paramount. St. Louis doesn’t have their act together financially, and that’s what matters at the end of the day. They can talk about their soccer history all they want, but show me the money. History doesn’t fund a stadium, or sell the seats in it. If St. Louis is serious about having a team, then they need to do more work to earn it.
If Vancouver and Portland can do what Seattle has shown it can do last night (and with season ticket sales) it is hard to argue with those moves.
Still – St louis has to have one of the next two teams, period.
As for relocations, I’d rather Chivas move to San Diego than St Louis
kpugs –
you can’t really want a geographical representation over a profitable and well-supported league…?!?!
if you do, then the next round will go to minneapolis and jacksonville. go ambivalence!!
whoever mentioned the NHL makes a great example of a league that chased geographical markets rather than core/successful markets.
I was a Seattle fan for one full day. Now I’ve gone over to their biggest rival.
Go for it, call me a turncoat.
National expansion for the sake of national expansion is a horrible idea. Look at the NHL….Teams should always go to where there are supporters and owners and stadiums capable of being filled. If that doesn’t exist, a team shouldn’t go there, as its only going to hurt the league. Give it time, if this league is meant to be national, it will, but it shouldn’t be forced just to make it happen.
Great move by MLS and I am glad that Barca dropped the Miami bid. MLS needs rivalries and with these three teams in the Pacific Northwest MLS will own that market. Sure the Seahawks and Mariners will continue to do well but those three teams will make money, something that is still job #1 for a few existing franchises.
Congratulations to Seattle for putting on a great show last night…Now let’s see if they can keep it up all season!!
Also congrats to Vancouver and Portland! I look forward to road trips to the Pacific Northwest…
Hopefully the league is wise enough to schedule Wednesday/Saturday or Thursday/Sunday matches for the traveling teams..
I’m already looking forward to the opening weekend of 2011…Seattle at Portland and Toronto at Vancouver.
Good Luck to St, Louis and Montreal for 2012. I hope they get their house in order!
shocking O.O….
funny thing is, now portland and vancouver have ALOT to live up to after Seattle put on that spectacle of a show last night… not even talking about the performance on the field, but rather they hype from the fans….
love this move…
love having another stadium within the urban fabric of a city. makes all the difference in the world.
walking up to a match among other fans creates excitement and transcendence – what a great way to improve the product experience…actually have a memorable/enjoyable matchday.
no more situations like fc dallas where you basically experience all of the atmosphere of a trip to the mall…
don’t worry, it won’t be FC Portland, that already exists as an Academy, founded and coached by the late, great Clive Charles. no one in soccer in Portland would dare mess with that Mojo.
http://portlandsportsman.com/?p=79
This article provides some good context into what the Timbers mean to the city, and how the team and the Timbers Army fit into Portland culture.
This is a big day for us Timbers fans. But, the Timbers are important for the city whether they’re part of MLS or not.
That being said, I’m looking forward to kicking the crap out of Seattle in 2011 (if not before then in the U.S. Open Cup).
Long live Timber Jim
Not unless you plan on making it an actual club. I agree, I hate when they call themselves FC, SC, & so on. They do nothing to make it feel or seem like a club (set the Sounders aside so far). They seem to be a group and oh yeah by the way we have a soccer team. Successful or not with their results, they are unified as a group. I think Portland will be the same and already is from watching/reading about their usl time.
I like the idea of relocating Chivas. Make it a US-only team!
My problem isn’t with Portland, it’s with MLS. I know the master plan is to expand to 20 teams.
But now we have three teams crammed into a small corner of the country (and part of Canada, obviously). Meanwhile there are massive, massive gaps between other deserving cities across the country.
St. Louis is arguably (emphasis on arguably, I’m not trying to lessen the credibility of other cities) the birthplace and Mecca of American soccer and should have been an original MLS city. Yet they still don’t have a team and have to watch this crap unfold.
I’m happy for the fans out there…but disappointed in MLS. But hey when am I not disappointed in MLS? The way this league is run I’m shocked it still exists, it’s run by idiots.
Ives, are there any rumblings about Spokane or Eugene getting the next franchise?
St. Louis got JOBBED! Part of me is all conspiracy theory that they are holding St. Louis as the “give us a stadium or we move to St. Louis” threat over all of the cities that don’t have SSS’s yet (paginig Mayor Fenty)
I guess whatever voodoo USL-1 may be trying to work isn’t taking. I want to know who The Don’s witch doctor is, he has the mojo.
This has been just about the greatest week a Northwest soccer fan like me could have.
If I was the St. Loius ownership group, I would approach the owner of Chivas USA (forgot his name) and make a bid for that team. I couldn’t imagine it being much more than the expansion fee plus additional costs of starting your own franchise. Who knows what else they have to do to convince MLS to granting them a franchise.
I assure you the name will remain the Portland Timbers. The owner has already said this.
Just don’t rename the team Portland FC, AFC Portland, Portland SC, etc.
Wow…Garber making good decisions.
With two Western slots added in 2011, and the two that could start by 2012, it’s almost guaranteed that two Eastern teams will be rewarded.
This is a statement to STL to get their bid together. Something they just need a couple more years to do. MLS can’t afford another failed franchise. I see STL and NYC2 or MTL jumping in.
Great news. Portland is quality city. Now can we move this thing South or what?
hopefully osorio will leave to coach them.