A question to the Timber faithful

[Yankee_Devil]

First I would just like to say do not take this the wrong way, I am just curious, it is only a question, I am not trying to insult your pride or your team or your city.

So here is the question, will anybody show up to the Timber games when they start their first MLS season?

The reason I am asking is because of the pace of the sold tickets is not matching up with the pace of Seattle was at last year. Look I thought Seattle and Portland were suppose to be soccer crazy cities, and I can see why I see how many people show up for the USL games for Portland on TV.

However I view the ticket sales and the number of seats on the renovated stadium as somewhat disappointing. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Yoshou]

First I would just like to say do not take this the wrong way, I am just curious, it is only a question, I am not trying to insult your pride or your team or your city.

So here is the question, will anybody show up to the Timber games when they start their first MLS season?

The reason I am asking is because of the pace of the sold tickets is not matching up with the pace of Seattle was at last year. Look I thought Seattle and Portland were suppose to be soccer crazy cities, and I can see why I see how many people show up for the USL games for Portland on TV.

However I view the ticket sales and the number of seats on the renovated stadium as somewhat disappointing. Please correct me if I am wrong.

They've only made 5,000 tickets available total so far... So hard to buy more tickets when you don't have any available. There's also the issue of them not even knowing if they'll really be getting a team in 2011. The funding for the renovations on PGE is still up in the air and getting the stadium renovated and the Beavers kicked out isn't nailed down. Although, there was supposed to be a vote today on funding for the stadium. I haven't checked to see if that actually happened or if the vote succeeded or not.

[Asprilla9]

They've only made 5,000 tickets available total so far... So hard to buy more tickets when you don't have any available. There's also the issue of them not even knowing if they'll really be getting a team in 2011. The funding for the renovations on PGE is still up in the air and getting the stadium renovated and the Beavers kicked out isn't nailed down. Although, there was supposed to be a vote today on funding for the stadium. I haven't checked to see if that actually happened or if the vote succeeded or not.
yeah, the problem with Portland is that it has had one of the most inert starts to a franchise in league history. seriously, even as I type this, I'm not 100% sure that there will even ever BE a Portland MLS team. the anti-soccer and anti-Paulson stuff has been REALLY prominent in the media and on blogs, etc. so far it has been anti-momentum.


and even when it does settle down, you're not gonna see Portland turn into a large scale Odessa-Permian Friday afternoon pep rally (one year in advance) ... PDX just aint that kind of town. but they will be there. i actually think the Timbers will sell out every game for the first couple of years.


but i don't think the lead-up will have a whole lot of fanfare until a lot closer to it being a reality. really, the press and pervasive thought on the street can be so negative, there'll be people who won't believe it's actually happening until they fricken take the field for game one. even now, a good percentage of the population literally thinks that MLS is some sort of Ponzi scheme and the Paulsons are using it to bilk the citizens out of hard-earned tax dollars. they've been told by their local AM radio dude that MLS is going to fold. :rolleyes:


Portland has a tougher battle than Seattle (or Toronto, for that matter) -- on many fronts. but the timbers will succeed in the end.

[FijiUnited]

No offense to anyone here, but people in the city of Portland seem to have a penchant for speaking with lots of fire and passion at times when they clearly don't know what they are talking about. MLS is going to fold? Wishful thinking, if thinking was even employed when making that statement.

[nborders]

The reason I am asking is because of the pace of the sold tickets is not matching up with the pace of Seattle was at last year.

Funny how the buzz about Seattle happened right around the time the Sonics were rumored to leave. Then the Sonics go and suddenly Seattle is soccer mad... Where were all of you last year... or the years before.

I believe, and I give credit of this theory after a talk with a few folks in Seattle, that much, not all, of the success of the Sounders has to do with some deep rooted city pride after loosing the Sonics.

Having the economy tank just before the team was announced didn't help Portland also. I have season tickets at the 50 yard line and nearly balked at renewing this year.
~n

[Yoshou]

Funny how the buzz about Seattle happened right around the time the Sonics were rumored to leave. Then they go, suddenly Seattle is soccer mad...

I believe, and I give credit of this theory after a talk with a few folks in Seattle, that much, not all, of the success of the Sounders has to do with some deep rooted city pride after loosing the Sonics.

Having the economy tank just before the team was announced didn't help Portland also. I have season tickets at the 50 yard line and nearly balked at renewing this year.
~n

It's amazing how often people think that just because the Sonics left, it drove up the sales of Soccer... I can say that no one that I've talked to at Sounders games bought their tickets because the Sonics left. They bought them because they like soccer. *sigh* Of all the dumb ass theories out there about why the Sounders are doing well, the Sonics leaving is by far the stupidest of them.

Regardless of what people say about how important the Sonics was to the Seattle, you need to realize that the primary reason why the Sonics were able to leave is because the people of Seattle fought tooth and nail to stop the City from paying for upgrades to KeyArena. The outright apathy for the team and NIMBYism of the Seattle citizens made it so toxic for NBA in Seattle that a local owner with a net worth of over $1.1 billion dollars had to sell it to an out of town owner because no local buyers could be found. If anything, Seattle's reaction to the Sonics is a cautionary tale for Portland and what could happen to both the Timbers and Beavers if they don't get their crap together.

Also, there is no 50 yard line on a football pitch and can be anywhere from 100 yards to 130 yards, but if you want international play, it needs to be between 110 and 120 yards. As a result of this variable length, the line at the middle of the field is either the halfway line, or the half-field line. 50 yard line is a uniquely gridiron football reference.

[tritown]

No offense to anyone here, but people in the city of Portland seem to have a penchant for speaking with lots of fire and passion at times when they clearly don't know what they are talking about. MLS is going to fold? Wishful thinking, if thinking was even employed when making that statement.

+1, but that applies to Seattle people too, so I'm not trying to be biased.


One thing that no one mentioned here is that Portland were announced to be in MLS a year earlier than Seattle, with respect to the first match. We should see what happens in about half a year, and then compare Portland to Seattle.

[KdaleB]

+1, but that applies to Seattle people too, so I'm not trying to be biased.


One thing that no one mentioned here is that Portland were announced to be in MLS a year earlier than Seattle, with respect to the first match. We should see what happens in about half a year, and then compare Portland to Seattle.

I think that's the key to this conversation. Portland MLS is not 8 months from its first MLS kick, it's 20 months from its first MLS kick (and that's if all the stadium funding stuff gets sorted out). There remains a good bit of time to go before people get all rah-rah.

For an idea of what MLS in PDX will be like, check out
YouTube - Portland Timbers Army Animated Tifo vs. Seattle - Timber Jim cuts down Space Needle from Wednesday night.

[RedRover]

I think that's the key to this conversation. Portland MLS is not 8 months from its first MLS kick, it's 20 months from its first MLS kick (and that's if all the stadium funding stuff gets sorted out). There remains a good bit of time to go before people get all rah-rah.

For an idea of what MLS in PDX will be like, check out
YouTube - Portland Timbers Army Animated Tifo vs. Seattle - Timber Jim cuts down Space Needle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AucOzX9qqRA) from Wednesday night.
:cool: That's impressive!

[pc4th]

They've only made 5,000 tickets available total so far... So hard to buy more tickets when you don't have any available.

Why isn't the team letting people buy more season ticket deposits?

I know that they cap it at 5000 and it already sold out several weeks back. From the Timbers-Sounders game, there was a billboard at the endline advertise about PortlandMLS2011 with phone number,website. If someone is interested in buying and call, does the FO turn them down? That person might not call back in a few months time when deposits go on sale again.

Toronto didn't cap its season ticket deposits.
Seattle didn't cap its season ticket deposits
Philadelphia didn't cap its season ticket deposits. Why is Portland doing so?

It made no sense to put a cap on deposits. You lose some potential customers who call in and told "sorry, check back in a few months."

[KdaleB]

You can still reserve a 2011 season ticket by purchasing a 2009 season ticket or a 2009 flex plan. They just capped the straight up deposits. I am pretty sure they decided to cap the deposits mainly because, for a while, things were looking pretty dicey about whether or not the stadium financing would come together.

Between the deposits and the current season ticket holders, there's a good solid base of season ticket deposits to be built on... I imagine they won't start Phase II of the deposit campaign until they have a hard and fast contract for financing the stadium.

[Yoshou]

Vancouver and Portland are both using MLS season tickets to drive their USL season ticket numbers. I'd imagine part of the reason for only releasing a small number now is so that they can also use the
MLS season tickets to drive their 2010 USL season ticket numbers

[tritown]

That makes sense. I think it would go farther to placate the naysayers if the USL team can draw, say, 14,000 per match instead of 8,000-9,000 that they do now. It might also convince Paulson to be a little bolder in going for a 25,000 seat stadium in favor of a 21,000 seat stadium.

Of course, I may be wrong...:)

[Yoshou]

According to Paulson, PGE doesn't have the facilities to support 14k-15k. It has the seats, but concessions, restrooms, etc. are strained beyond 10k.

[Stephen Heisler]

It is always smart to put the horse before the cart.

[KdaleB]

That makes sense. I think it would go farther to placate the naysayers if the USL team can draw, say, 14,000 per match instead of 8,000-9,000 that they do now. It might also convince Paulson to be a little bolder in going for a 25,000 seat stadium in favor of a 21,000 seat stadium.

Of course, I may be wrong...:)

You mean like Seattle and Toronto did before their auspicious MLS debuts?

I'm sure the naysayers would be even more pacified if every MLS team sold out 90,000 seat stadiums and the salary cap was $150 million per team.

Portland's 8-9 k is pretty dang impressive (wouldn't Dallas love to have Portland's crowds), especially when compared to the meager Seattle & Toronto USL crowds that preceded the debuts of MLS in those cities.

[Yoshou]

Wait a second.. Toronto had USL crowds? Aren't you being optimistic with the term meager? :)