The Portland city council's approval Wednesday of a stadium funding plan bolsters Merritt Paulson's bid to land a Major League Soccer franchise, but the final decision might take longer than expected.
An announcement has been widely expected before the league's regular season begins next Thursday. However, as the league continues to study expansion proposals and the ongoing uncertainty of the nation's economy, an announcement could be postponed until later in March."These are constantly changing times, and if we find ourselves in a position where we need to extend that goal and that date further, then we'll make that decision as we get closer to March 31," MLS commissioner Don Garber said.
MLS, the top professional soccer league in the United States, is planning to award two expansion franchises. Four cities (Portland, Vancouver, B.C., Ottawa and St. Louis) are being considered for franchises that would begin play in 2011. The (Toronto) Globe and Mail, citing anonymous sources, reported this week that Vancouver will be one of the cities chosen.
Portland, with city council financial backing and private investment secure, might have edged its way into the second position.
"The big question in Portland is not so much the support the marketplace can provide, because it's obviously a fertile territory for soccer. It's what are the stadium prospects?" said Tripp Mickle, a staff writer for Sports Business Daily who covers MLS. "If they can take care of that issue, then their chances of getting a team grow significantly."
Vancouver looks to have all the pieces -- solid ownership, marketing and fan support, along with an available stadium -- in place. The city has the financial backing of Greg Kerfoot, who owns the current United Soccer Leagues' Vancouver Whitecaps, along with NBA star Steve Nash as a primary co-owner.
"Some of the other bids seem to be missing one thing or another. That's for them to sort out," said Bob Lenarduzzi, Whitecaps team president. "We feel like that we have all the parts that are required to move ahead with a high degree of confidence."
Financial issues have prompted three of the original eight prospective expansion cities (Miami, Montreal and Atlanta) to drop their bids. Among the final four, stadium issues linger in Ottawa. City officials are deciding whether to fund a new soccer stadium or renovate a stadium for the city's potential Canadian Football League franchise.
St. Louis has a stadium deal -- and Anheuser-Busch on Wednesday offered another site as a home for a possible stadium -- but Garber has expressed concern about the investors backing the bid.
The 15-team league (the Philadelphia franchise will join the league for the 2010 season) is going full speed ahead with its expansion plans despite a tanking national economy and major leagues such as the NBA and NFL cutting staff and pay.
"This is a league that's 14 years old and still developing. It's going to need a footprint in other markets," Mickle said. "I think that's why they're going forward with plans to expand, even in a down economy. There's room for growth because of the size of the league."
Driving the league's expansion plan is the success of the Seattle Sounders. Seattle fans, reeling from the departure of the NBA's SuperSonics to Oklahoma City and the poor play of the Mariners and Seahawks last year, have embraced the new game in town.
The Sounders have sold 21,500 season tickets for their inaugural season at Qwest Field, and the team will cap season-ticket sales at 22,000. The MLS announced Wednesday that the league's championship game will be held in Seattle on Nov.22.
"There is a deep history of the sport in Seattle -- as there is in Portland -- going all the way back to the North American Soccer League," said Gary Wright, the Sounders' senior vice president of business operations. "We've got three generations of fans who know and understand the sport."
The Sounders also have deals in place with more than 30 sponsors, including such heavyweights as QFC and Virginia Mason, and a reported $20 million deal with Microsoft that will place the "Xbox 360" logo on Sounders jerseys.
"It's the first time they (Microsoft) have ever done anything individually with a team," Wright said.
There has been so much enthusiasm for the Sounders in the city that the team expanded capacity for its sold-out inaugural game against the New York Red Bulls next Thursday. Original seating capacity was set at 24,500 but was increased to 32,400 to satisfy demand. The seating configuration for all regular-season matches will be increased to 27,700 seats, making it one of the larger venues in MLS.
With Portland and Vancouver as potential expansion franchises, the Sounders and Whitecaps envision a natural rivalry. They anticipate fans traveling from city to city, stoking a rivalry comparable to the soccer competition seen around the world.
"Those are three markets in a very tight area," Lenarduzzi said. "The league would benefit from the rivalry that would be established."
Garber said he's not concerned about the level of support for three franchises in the Pacific Northwest.
"The fact that you can envision fans getting in cars, buses and trains going up and down the coast is something we're excited about," Garber said.
MLS is so confident of its expansion plan that despite the shaky economy, it's not going to reduce the $40 million expansion fee that the two teams must pay.
"We've got to be careful that we maintain the asset value of our teams, because those values have an impact on the team's ability to finance itself," Garber said. "If we can't get the right price for an investment in the league at this time, then the league would make a decision to postpone the expansion until the economy changes or improves."
Given the Sounders' success, it's no wonder the league is forging ahead with expansion plans.
"The country's changing in terms of demographics. (Soccer is) a sport that people are interested in," Mickle said. "I think there's an opportunity and they are trying to take advantage of it."
An expansion franchise is not a done deal for Portland. However, the city's bid does have solid financial backing spearheaded by Paulson, a strong market and fan base along with a funding plan for a soccer-specific stadium. Those factors will certainly attract the attention of the MLS decision-makers.
"The thing that Portland has going for it is a very strong ownership group," Mickle said. "The Paulson family has a strong reputation and a great name."
-- Geoffrey C. Arnold: 503-221-8556; geoffreyarnold@news.oregonian.com