[PacificNW]

I am watching the Red Wings/Penguins game on NBC.....this game is exciting! It would be a perfect fit for Portland and the Rose Garden! :banana:

[pdxman]

Here here! Portland could definitely use another pro-sports team.

[PacificNW]

Congrats to the Red Wings! Great game. You guys deserve the Stanley Cup!

[MightyAlweg]

Major sports teams and the cities that host them seem to have fallen into two categories;

Established World-Class cities that have teams by sheer drawing power. Cities who already know they are cool.

And...

Small, unglamorous cities that need a team to boost their civic ego and prove they have something to offer to someone. Small cities who have inherent flaws and want to prove to someone, even if just the next city over, that they are cool.

I would hate for Portland to fall into the trap of luring pro sports teams to town with government money, taxpayer funded corporate welfare, and/or a local billionaire with an inferiority complex who feels the need to make up for something he lacks in his personal life.

Look at Los Angeles/Orange County. They haven't had pro football in 12 years, and there are no plans anywhere to build any new stadium or do anything to get either a LA or an OC team back. Los Angeles and Anaheim both refuse to spend one dime of taxpayer money. If the NFL wants us, they know where they can find us. And SoCal continues to be one of the most exciting, glamorous and wealthy mega-cities on the planet with over 15 Million residents.

It seems to me that new pro sports teams go to cheesy, sleezy, third rate cities like Oklahoma City, Charlotte, Memphis, Jacksonville, etc., etc. Those are cities that don't have much else going for them except their name on a polyester sports jersey for sale at the local Wal-Mart.

Portland is much better and much classier than that, and shouldn't fall into the trap of whoring themselves out to whoever might pay attention to them for cash.

[alexjon]

But it's hockey :(

[Evergrey]

I think Portland would be the perfect fit for the NHL (much more so than say... Phoenix, Raleigh, Miami, etc.) Portland actually competed for a Stanley Cup about 90 years ago.

[uhohitzme]

I know this is supposed to be NHL related, but I would love for the WNBA to place a team there.... but that's just me. ;)

[MarkDaMan]

Clyde Drexler wanted to buy the WNBA team before it left, somehow it couldn't be worked out and supposedly Allen stood in the way. I don't remember the exact case though.

I doubt Portland is going to be giving great sums of government money to get a professional team. If there are incentives we can throw in the pot, along with the state of Oregon's allowance to collect the income taxes from the new professional team's staff and players to attract a team, I'm all for it.

[JCW]

http://www.mlstopdx.com/

Portland's next professional team will be MLS

[pdxf]

If you any of you haven't been to a Timbers game, you should definitely go check it out, it's a lot of fun even if you don't think you like soccer (just sit somewhere in the northern section of the stadium and be ready to chant!). We will get an MLS team soon, but the Timbers Army makes these game entertaining, and there is generally a good crowd even though its a minor league team. Regarding MightyAlweg's comment, soccer is an area where Portland does show it's class. Sure we want an MLS team, but with the crazed fan base here, the MLS should want us even more. Seattle just got an MLS team, and their current minor league team has generally averaged 1/3rd the average attendance as a Timbers game.

[MightyAlweg]

Well, when we were talking about "Profesional Sports" I was mainly thinking of the Big Three, Plus Hockey. Football, Baseball, Basketball, and sometimes Hockey.

I don't think soccer is really in the same league as those other sports businesses. I imagine it would be easier to get a WNBA team to be mentioned on the nightly news, or carried by at least a couple of cable sports channels. Soccer? Not so much.

I can appreciate that there are plenty of Portlanders who enjoy soccer, and I remember well in the 1980's all those white, upper middle class guys in high school who were on the soccer team. I imagine the Timbers Army is made up of plenty of Wilson High, Lincoln High, Lakeridge High, Caitlin Gabel and Jesuit High alumni who played soccer in high school. And I bet beer sales at the snack bar are through the roof, with long suffering Lake Oswego housewives waiting in the Mercedes SUV to pick up hubby and his buddies after the game. :haha:

But really, how much media coverage does soccer get in a crowded national sports market? Not much, if any at all.

Look at the LA Galaxy and the arrival of David Beckham. It was supposed to move soccer into the pro sports world for America. It's done absolutely nothing for soccer, except get pictures of his pouty wife in the pages of People Magazine a few times.

All that said, this MLS proposal for Portland is likely a good one if they are going to use the existing PGE Park and just fill up more dates in that venue. I would assume this deal would require very little taxpayers money to get off the ground?