Jul 09
Portland: A Good Candidate for MLS Expansion
Portland is a great city to live in and a great city to be a soccer fan in. The current team in Portland, the Portland Timbers of the USL-1 have a great following and one of the best average attendances in USL-1. The Timbers play in a minor league baseball stadium right now and in their first four home games this year, the averaged over 8,000 fans a game. The atmosphere at the games also is amazing as profiled in the two videos after the jump.
Timbers Army Sings National Anthem — 5/24/08 from Shawn Levy on Vimeo.
Portland Timbers Army from D Bramlett on Vimeo.
It’s an amazing atmosphere for a USL-1 side. Do you think that Portland should have an MLS franchise? It certainly looks like the town loves their soccer. If you don’t think Portland should get a franchise, who should? Let your voice be heard below.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I know the pacific northwest historically produces some solid footballing talent; so although I don’t know what the participation scene is like there now, I’m sure there is enough to support expansion – particularly in light of Seattle’s expansion.
Interestingly enough, I just did an op-ed on Atlanta being a great MLS expansion prospect as well. In general I feel like the momentum is certainly growing!
July 9th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
the great thing is that so many cities are pushing for teams. The Pacific northwest has great youth systems to supply clubs up there and if the fans get this excited for USL games, imagine what could happen for MLS games. Portland put 16,000 people for a regular league game once so there is a lot of potential.