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Major League Vision: Owner of Beavers, Timbers seeks MLS team for Portland
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
By Nick Daschel
Columbian Staff Writer

PORTLAND "” The population of the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area exceeds 2.1 million. It is the 23rd largest television market in the country, yet plays host to only one major league sports franchise, basketball's Trail Blazers.

Time for another sport to join the fold?

Merritt Paulson thinks so, though not what might be most popular to the mainstream sports fan.

The owner of Portland's Beavers and Timbers believes this market is ready for Major League Soccer.

What about major league baseball? The NFL?

Population isn't the only factor when it comes to those sports, Paulson says. The business community has a big say in supporting baseball, and especially professional football.

"There's just not the private industry in the area to support that," Paulson said. "Potentially, that will change, because businesses continue to grow. But there's a lot that needs to happen in Portland ... at this point, it's not there."

Paulson, the 35-year-old son of treasury secretary Henry Paulson, hopes to have a long-term impact on our area's sports future. A former executive for NBA Entertainment and cable television's Home Box Office, Paulson dipped his toe into the Portland-Vancouver sports market in 2007 by purchasing the Beavers and Timbers franchises.

An accomplished skier and supporter of environmental causes, Paulson did not graduate from Harvard Business School with a goal to some day own a sports franchise. It was his entrepreneurial spirit that moved him into sports ownership.

"I have an interest in doing my own thing," Paulson said. "To maximize return on investment, sports is a pretty tough area to do it. But I felt there were some pretty good opportunities in sports, and when you add the impact you can have on a community, it's such a unique position."

Paulson recently talked to The Columbian about his vision of bringing MLS to Portland, what to do with the Beavers and public financing for sports facilities.

Columbian: What led you to Portland?

Paulson: I looked at quite a few things over a process of four years. I didn't know Portland (Beavers/Timbers) was for sale, to be totally honest. I was close to doing a deal in Sonoma, Calif., moving a single-A (baseball) team to Sonoma and creating the value by moving to what is a really good market. The folks at the Beavers and Timbers approached us. I shifted my focus entirely. This was a case where it didn't involve moving a franchise. It felt like the growth and potential was there, even with the existing facility.

Columbian: Now that you've worked in PGE Park for a year, what are your thoughts on the stadium?

Paulson: It's a unique stadium because certainly to have a facility in downtown Portland that is centrally located, that's a rare thing. Certainly, you'd like to have better parking, and it's a little too big for baseball. That said, there's some real positives.

It's got historical appeal that can't be replicated. There are things we can do to improve the fan experience here, whether it's for baseball and for soccer. The upgrade in 2001 certainly helped. And it was a big move for the city to put in this state of the art turf we have.

Columbian: Have you found this market to be receptive to minor league baseball?

Paulson: I think there was a lot of PR about this thing with (the Montreal Expos' possible move to Portland) that got some folks' hopes up. Sacramento is a city that is similar to Portland by a lot of metrics. They've arguably got the most successful minor league baseball team in the country there.

You have a hard time convincing me that without a successful Triple-A team, you're an MLB market. To be perfectly honest, Triple-A baseball isn't an insult. Far from it. The product on the field is as close to MLB as you can get. One difference I can pick up is star power. You don't have the Alex Rodriguezes and Ichiro Suzukis playing, but you're watching the top prospects. And you're offering a quality product at a far less expensive ticket and a lot more accessible in terms of being able to let your family on the field.

Columbian: What do the successful franchises such as Salt Lake and Sacramento have that Portland lacks?

Paulson: They have new facilities. They have facilities that seat around 10,000; they're half the size we have, and lot more intimate and baseball specific facilities.

Columbian: Why are you driven to bring Major League Soccer to Portland?

Paulson: You wouldn't want to bring any major league team to Portland that wouldn't reflect positively on the city. With MLS, you're talking about one of the best soccer markets in the country and bringing a team here in a sport that is really on the rise and a league that is really on the rise.

Columbian: But soccer has been talked about "the next big pro sport" for years, even decades. Why is MLS finally the real deal?

Paulson: Youth soccer has always been big. You just haven't had a league that has had very positive professional tradition for them to follow. What finally happened is we hit a league where they have been able to create soccer-specific venues ... so they can showcase the sport as it is meant to be showcased.

You've got the level of play up considerably, and you've got the star power, and you've got this globalization phenomenon; fans from other countries where soccer is the biggest sport, they're capable in the digital age to follow leagues across the sea. Suddenly, MLS is very relevant.

Columbian: If you bring an MLS franchise to Portland, will they play at PGE Park?

Paulson: We would need to work on PGE Park to make MLS go. The big thing is there are only seats on one sideline. The sideline seats are your best seats in soccer. We would be able to share the Portland Beavers for a period of time, but eventually when you put in permanent seats on the other side of the field, the Beavers would have to move to another facility.

Columbian: And your plans for a new home for the Beavers?

Paulson: We have three sites in Portland, two that are on the front burner. I can't talk right now about it, but one is out there, the efforts of Lents Park at 91st and Holgate.

The right size would be an 8,500-seat facility with a berm in the outfield, where depending on the site, families could play catch, and there could be a picnic area that would fit about 1,000 people.

Columbian: Is there any possibility that a stadium could be built in Vancouver?

Paulson: We're looking to the city (of Portland) to help make this possible. I'll tell you this: I would not want to move it from the greater Portland area. I want it accessible for anyone who lives in Portland, and the sites we're focused on happen to be in the Portland city limits.

Columbian: The cost of buying an MLS franchise, upgrading PGE Park and building a baseball facility has been reported to be around $100 million. Is that accurate?

Paulson: In that area. The costs depend a little on the site for baseball. If you have a grade that works, you're not much north of $30 million for a new facility. I'd have to wait until I have all the numbers, but the total amount is less than what it would take to build a new MLS facility.

Columbian: What are your thoughts on public financing of sports facilities?

Paulson: You can't do it without the public. In the cases where facilities have been privately financed, there's been a lot of public support through other means. The value a sports facility can have both in terms of economic impact and revitalization on an area is very material. That's very provable.

Columbian: What do you say to people who believe taxpayers shouldn't give a dime to sports facilities?

Paulson: Do you think they shouldn't give a dime to libraries? Or parks and infrastructure that help plan a city? You talk about how aspirational a city wants to be. Is Portland a major league market? Is it a market that wants to be on par with Seattle, or are we a bigger version of Spokane, Washington?

I'm not assessing value to one or the other necessarily. I appreciate the "keep Portland weird" thing. There are going to be elements to Portland that are going to be unique to Portland. And we're not trying to be like everybody else. But I'm a huge believer in the benefits sports can have on a community. So many people look up to athletes and get swept up in the community pride associated with sports that the spillover benefits have on other aspects of the community.

That's a story that's pretty easy to tell. But some people at the end of the day don't want to spend money on anything. I understand their sensitivity.

quote:

Columbian: And your plans for a new home for the Beavers?

Paulson: We have three sites in Portland, two that are on the front burner. I can't talk right now about it, but one is out there, the efforts of Lents Park at 91st and Holgate.

The right size would be an 8,500-seat facility with a berm in the outfield, where depending on the site, families could play catch, and there could be a picnic area that would fit about 1,000 people.

Columbian: Is there any possibility that a stadium could be built in Vancouver?

Paulson: We're looking to the city (of Portland) to help make this possible. I'll tell you this: I would not want to move it from the greater Portland area. I want it accessible for anyone who lives in Portland, and the sites we're focused on happen to be in the Portland city limits.

Two other sites?

PPS and MC? (pleasepleaseplease)
USPS? (nice, but I doubt it)
Lincoln High School? (meh, OK)
Delta Park? (double meh, but still better than Lents)

Obviously he hasn't given up on MLB long term, so surely he must be keeping that in mind when siting a new AAA stadium. That or he wants a cheap throwaway facility that could be trashed in 10 years.

A minor league stadium at the PPS site that is designed for future expansion to major league size when the time is right is (IMO) the most logical plan if we are visionary enough. All of the successful minor league teams in the larger cities are situated pretty close to the downtown area. Suburban locations for stadiums in large cities just don't work, especially nowadays when you would be asking people to drive a very long way and spend an awful lot on gas. A central location for all makes more sense to me. The Lents site would have to be only a stop-gap measure, and an 8,500-seat stadium wouldn't work at all as an interim site while a new major league park was being constructed, as PGE Park would now.

Reasons to move the park to Lents.

1) Peace poor part of town.
2) No light rail. (not yet).
3) Cronyism. (See Randy Leonard)
4) No local microbreweries.
5) Too far from Cedar Mill.
6) just plain bad form.

USPS IS SITE # 1. We'll need to overthrow
the Sushi Bar Socialists in the Pearl.
Armed insurrection. Peasant land seizure.

Man, I can't get that image out of my head: 35 foot brick wall in left field. (ivy covered--see Forbes Field)
and in the background---the train station tower. Intersecting at this point would be: 1) light rail and trolleys, 2) North Park Blocks, 3) Train station and bus station itself, 4) Possibly the Public Farmers Market they've been talking about on NW Broadway, 5)
and yes, more local food and beverage establishments than you can count. (73 Starbucks within a one mile radius)
This location is a Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, PNC Park and Camden Yards waiting to happen.

As soon as I make my 400 million (while working at the insurance company). I'll pay for the whole thing myself.

CMM - I don't have a link (Paul - do you have it?), but my understanding is the USPS has been officially ruled out as a site --- too many hurdles to overcome, and I think someone has already claimed it for a different use.

Once the streetcar hits the eastside, PPS or MC will become equally as compelling. They are building AAA stadiums just like the PPS/MC setup right now in Charlotte (which has NBA/NFL) and Columbus (NHL/MLS), and both cities are similar in size/growth to Portland.

Fair enough. Putting an MLB Park in the Pearl would have been an uphill battle anyway.

My one concern about PPS and MC is this: these sites sit tightly into a triangle defined by major arteries: I-5, Broadway, and Interstate. Good for public transportation, but bad for walkability and sidewalk ambiance. Simply put: It's one thing to hang out on NW 23RD for dinner or a Frappachino. Another to hang out on NE Broadway with four lanes of traffic buzzing by and leaving all that exhaust. None of these thoroughfares in inner NE could provide such an intimate urban experience as found in NW or the Pearl.

Last year I made my first Mid-Western ballpark roadtrip. In Chicago, the two experiences could not have been further apart. At Wrigley: a ballpark dropped into the middle of a gentrified neighborhood with more restaurants and pubs than one could count. At Comisky? a mediocre ballpark surrounded by asphalt and cut off from all the neighborhood enjoyments in Wrigleyville.

At Comiskey, ten minutes after the game was over, the place was a ghost town. At Wrigley, the party went on for hours after the game. Even at Safeco, the park is far enough South of downtown and far enough away from residential neighborhoods that the experience is not the same.

My new and favorite location: Lincoln High. Still right on the Max line, beautiful view of downtown and easily accessible from residential neighborhoods just to the North and West. Also, an easy 7 or 8 minute walk from Pioneer Courthouse Square to the Park.

The city could easily cap the 405 freeway for approximately 3-5 blocks which would allow fans to walk directly to the park without breathing those fumes. Just South of the Stadium: between 16th and 14th, a series of high rise or medium rise apts and condos would help the city fulfill it's desire for density and create a nice backdrop for the ballpark. (restaurants and pubs included on street level of the condos).

addl thoughts:

1) I refuse to call it US Cellular Field. It is and always should be called Comiskey.

2) I can't really rate Comiskey since the ushers wouldn't even let me walk around the concourse on the lower level. (my ticket was for the upper level).

3) Miller Field in Milwaukee feels much nicer in person than it looks on TV.

4) The new Busch Stadium took my breath away. Easily the nicest park I've ever seen.

5) Compared to the Kingdome, The Metrodome felt like at trip through Windsor Castle.

6) Even Kauffman was a pleasant surprise. After the renovation, should be sweet.
(sorry, BC, YOU WERE RIGHT.)

7) Saw the Cubs verse the White Sox on a Sunday, (paid $40.00 from scalper for standing room only). Best $40.00 I've ever spent.

8) Traveling through South Dakota on the way home in a major thunderstorm. 3:00 AM and on the FM radio: "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors. (experience was surreal).

9) Traveling through Iowa on the way to Minneapolis. 3:00 AM, and on the FM radio: "Small Town" by Mellencamp.
(experience was surreal)

10) Nearly home and traveling through the Columbia River Gorge. 3:00 PM with the sun shining brightly on the river. Realization that Oregon is more beautiful than anything esle I saw on the trip: (experience was surreal) and PRICELESS.