Major League Sports: March 2008 Archives

At one point in the evening, describing the position the Portland Beavers and Portland Timbers were in upon buying the teams, owner Merritt Paulson says "now, I don't want to speak ill of the previous management..."

Before he can finish, however, a chorus of "Please do!"s erupt from our table. "Our table" in this case is the de facto Timbers Army table, four of us doing the representing (two hairy, two non, if you must know) at a cozy chat over brews and finger food at the Bridgeport Brewery. To an audience of about 25 people for just under two hours, Merritt took questions with aplomb and grace on everything from MLS, MLB, his Treasury Secretary father, even touching on the Blazers at points, and reminded us just how much of everything the previous owners did wrong.

"I don't think absentee sports ownership works," he says, explaining his decision to jump in with both feet and change his zip code to the 972's. Later he will repeat his quote from the Tribune feature, "the community owns the team," and it seems Paulson takes that to heart in just about everything he does for the teams.

But enough exposition, you want some updates on the Timbers, right?

The Teasing

- The Timbers are in negotiations to bring two Mexican teams, one English team, and one Spanish team to Portland for exhibitions. Only one of these is confirmed signed and will be announced, the others are in the works.

- The entire Timbers defense will return for 2008. This surprised us a bit, and we weren't sure regarding Leonard Griffen (who left to fulfill his contract with the Columbus Crew) whether he meant Leo would return or if it was a forgotten omission. Regardless, Merritt was very bullish on the Timbers roster for '08, and Justin Thompson will be back!

- The team has signed an asian international who's scored World Cup goals! One easily found on youtube! And a "young guy," not on the tail end of his career! Touted as the biggest signing in Timbers history, this one set the intertubes ablaze with rank speculation. Did Togo score any goals last time around?

The Pleasing

- Paulson laid a lot of groundwork to set the context for his MLS plan. Merritt has been looking for an MLS opportunity for years. Contrary to what we in the TA suspected, that Paulson bought a baseball team, found out he had a soccer team and got hooked, Merritt painted a picture of having his eyes open for an MLS deal, and then saw the opportunity with Portland. Most specifically, Merritt saw PGE Park as a leg up in having a facility ready as fast as possible for MLS. (It should be also noted that Paulson had very high praise for MLS, calling it the best opportunity in sports right now, and specifically praising the work of Don Garber and Mark Abbott.)

- Merritt's MLS economic plan is practically ready, and it "all will be out there in a short amount of time." Paulson stated again that he would pay the MLS expansion fee and associated costs, but is looking to "raise about $100 million" to make it work. Some of this would be for adding the east side stands and converting PGE to a horseshoe instead of its current boomerang layout, and the rest (probably majority) of that would go to building the Beavers a 8-10,000 seat park of their own (which would be upgradeable for MLB, of course). Paulson's group has four or five sites in mind, but didn't want to name specifics for fear of the debate over locations overtaking the discussion at hand.

Paulson contrasted this $100 million figure against the cost of a new MLB team and park starting at around $600 million. Merritt was unequivocal in his assessment that Portland is not ready for MLB, and even if it were, Paulson wouldn't really be the guy to do it. He's here for the MLS action.

- Many conversations have been happening in all directions between MLS, the City, and Merritt's group. Even though Merritt hasn't been talking to the mayor (it is an election year, after all), he has been very engaged with the city. There shouldn't be much surprise on 4th Ave when the plan finally hits the street.

- There are a number of different funding options, and Merritt has been approached by more potential partners than he can conceivably include. This tells me that Portland's business community would get behind the MLS Timbers rather quick.

- MLS "may" tolerate sharing PGE Park with the Beavers "for 5 years" or so. I read this as "will tolerate" myself, but that could be wishful thinking. The Trib reporter who quasi-moderated led off with a question about MLS policy requiring "soccer-only stadiums" and Paulson called that "a simplification," going on to explain that the league would most likely work with the teams co-existing on a short-term basis.

- PSU Football is very enthusiastic about the plan. The horseshoe configuration helps them as much as it helps the Timbers, and the stadium is a good selling point for recruiting, believe it or not. Increasing the number of 50-yard line seats is gravy for them, and they may be a good ally to have as this plan winds through city hall.

The Confirming of Our Worst Fears

- Jordan and Wicks are gone. Merritt couldn't disclose what we got for them, but did confirm they were gone and that the team was well compensated. I wake up this morning to find that Bob's already on the case.

Big props to Merritt for taking our questions.I haven't been this excited about MLS to Portland in a long time, and I put it down to the enthusiasm and organization of Merritt Paulson, . He's incredibly bullish about the league, about Portland, and about the Timbers, and it sounds like he's done his homework and has a plan of action. There's no question that we couldn't have asked for a better owner to lead us into this challenge.

All in all, a great night to be a Timbers fan, made even better by returning home to find my 2008 season tickets awaiting me. Mmmmm, the smell of fresh Timbers tickets.....