LiveBlog: Portland MLS Press Conference

By: Bob Kellett | September 3rd, 2008

Merritt Paulson, owner and president of the Portland Beavers and Portland Timbers, Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard, and Torre Chisholm, Portland State University athletic director, are holding a news conference to discuss plans to bring Major League Soccer to Portland. I’m at the stadium and will give you the blow-by-blow updates below as best as my typing fingers can.

8:30 - Coming to you live from PGE Park thanks to the MAC Club’s wifi. Randy Leonard has shown up wearing a questionable mustard colored suit. Merritt Paulson is here wearing his usual khakis, button down shirt and blazer without a tie. A microphone has been set up on the Fred Meyer Deck. A couple of Little League kids from Lents are here in uniform. In the background the Timbers are warming up. More to come…

8:40 - Really bad Wifi connection. This might not be a live blog. Here’s a rendering of the renovated PGE Park stadium design. Ain’t it beautiful….

8:50 - The media folks are gathering. I now know who ate all the pies. Randy Leonard is carrying a letter signed by the entire City Council and Mayor Potter endorsing Portland as an MLS city. It is more of a symbolic letter than anything else. He’s planning on reading it. Also on hand is PSU’s athletic director and some select baseball and soccer fans.

8:53 - MLS to Portland website is now live.

8:55 - Better Beavers Ballpark up and ready for your love.

MP: Welcoming the media folks. Five cameras set up. Assembled supporters standing by his side. Gavin Wilkinson here instead of leading his team through training. Outline of what’s happening:

1. Merritt Paulson
2. Randy Leonard
3. PSU AD
4. Lents Neighborhood
5. Sue Bush, Lents Baseball
6. Ty Ortega, Timbers Army

MP: Operating under tight deadline. Important community learn about it and weigh in. Go to MLS to Portland and Better Baseball Ballpark to learn about it and voice support.

MP: Very positive reception from fans, businesses, government…

RL: Portland is number one city in US and Canada for an MLS team. His enthusiasm is much higher for Lents baseball stadium. Moving to Lents would be great for the area and Lents Little League. It will be an asset for outer SE Portland. It redefines what it means to have Lents as a community in Portland. It causes economic development for an area in a city that has been struggling. What we’ve lacked in the past with MLB was a committed owner. Merritt is that person. He has moved into this community. As a lifelong Portlander that means a lot to me and people in Portland.

RL: I will do what I can to make this all happen.

TC: PSU is thrilled to be part of this. We are thrilled by the design elements of PGE Park. It would give PSU the best stadium for our conference and division in the country. It is an opportunity for the university.

Dewey Akers, Lents Neighborhood: Great opportunity for Lents and SE Portland.

Sue Bush, Lents Little League: Amazing opportunity for our community and our Little League.

Ty Ortega, Timbers Army: MLS will bring talent and skill to Portland. It will grow the fans in this city. The TA has been growing and this will further make it Soccer City USA. Looking forward to seeing the new stadium and the excitement of MLS.

Fans and collected people introducing themselves.

Reporter: Randy, city leaders in the past have been reluctant to put money to sports. How much and how different now?

RL: You are talking about Mayor Potter. With Merritt we can talk about using part of ticket sales to pat for bond. Potter said this was city money in the past. It is not. With our fan base we can generate ticket revenue to pay for the city’s part. We are still negotiating how much we will put in. Letns Park is owned by the city. That is a huge committment. What we’ll see in the future is a better understanding of financing and backing up of bonds.

Reporter: Isn’t it a risk?

RL: There was a risk when I came here in my car this morning. Cities need to take risks. This is a risk worth taking. People are exaggerating the risks. There is great fan enthusiasm for soccer and baseball. I am confident it will pay for itself.

Reporter: Merritt, which cities are you competing with?

MP: Vancover, Montreal, New York, Las Vegas, San Diego are names that have been mentioned. Don’t need a full financial plan in place by October 15. Need to show some financial viability but details are not needed by then. Can be worked out after submission of bid.

And that concludes the press conference. The takeaways:

1. The websites are launched.
2. There is support throughout the community.
3. The city is behind this, but the devil are still in the details.
4. There’s enough fan support for baseball and soccer to make this pay for itself.
5. No need for full financial details to be in place before the October 15 deadline.

Merritt and others are now giving interviews to the media hacks. This media hack will conclude the liveblog. Thanks for joining me.