Baseball in the Great Northwest
February 6, 2001, 10:05am

The dream never dies, just the dreamer and Dr. Lynn Lashbrook and his Portland Baseball Groups' dream is to bring Major League Baseball to Portland, Oregon. The group continues to make progress and believes they're closer then ever to bringing a MLB team to Portland. This despite not having a stadium, nor a financial backer to make that dream a reality.

Two metropolitan-area state lawmakers according to The Oregonian, two Portland area state lawmakers, Rep. Bill Witt, R-Cedar Mill, and Sen. Ryan Deckert, D-Beaverton, are studying a plan to introduce a bill in the current legislative session that would dedicate $100 million to $150 million in state lottery money to construction of a major-league baseball stadium in Portland, subject to stringent conditions.


First, there is a widespread belief -- one voiced by baseball commissioner Bud Selig as recently as last week -- that baseball absolutely must revamp its economic structure, which has doomed small-market teams with inadequate stadiums to competitive failure in recent years. As a part of the restructuring, two to four struggling teams could be relocated.

Second, Portland could look like one of the best -- if not the best -- among the relocation sites. The most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates of population place Portland as the 22nd-largest market in the country, ahead of such current major-league cities as Cincinnati, Kansas City, Mo., and Milwaukee. Beyond that, The Oregonian reminded its readers Portland is the largest market in the country that has only one major-league sports franchise. All the markets larger than Portland, plus several smaller ones, have at least two teams.

Portland Family Entertainment, the city's partner in the renovation and operation of PGE Park, formerly Civic Stadium, also has expressed an interest in bringing major-league baseball to Portland. But its leaders discuss any near-term prospects with caution.

"Talk is cheap. You don't do a business plan on the back of an envelope," PFE chairman Marshall Glickman said. "We want to actually make something happen."

Earl Santee, of the nation's preeminent stadium designer, HOK Sports Facilities Group of Kansas City, Mo., estimates the price tag at $240 million to $270 million, not including land acquisition and other costs. Add $100 million if a retractable roof is included. Even if money from the Oregon lottery -- which nets the state about $300 million a year -- were made available and a team owner were to kick in another $50 million to $100 million, there still would be a need for a local contribution -- from the city, Metro or some combination.

"We are going to do everything that we can to bring major-league baseball to Portland, but we are not going to be naive about it," Glickman said. "We would like nothing more than to be sitting here three, four, five years from now and have major-league baseball here."

Glickman said his group, which bought the Albuquerque Triple A team from the Los Angeles Dodgers to move it to Portland, would be willing to take a lead ownership role in a future Portland major-league franchise.

"That assumes that major-league baseball substantially changes its economic structure," Glickman said. "Without that, we have no interest. Small markets would not be able to compete. Until the economics of major-league baseball are changed radically, I don't know why anyone would want to go there.

"But we assume that is going to happen and there will be an opportunity sometime."

In the meantime, PFE will operate PGE Park as the home of the Portland Beavers, now a Pacific Coast League affiliate of the San Diego Padres since the Dodgers opted for a Triple A team in Las Vegas, the Portland Timbers of pro soccer's A league, Portland State University, and high school football, as well as up to eight concerts a year. The Beavers begin play April 30 at PGE Park.

One thing could diminish PFE's interest in major-league baseball. If Paul Allen, owner of the Portland Trail Blazers, were to acquire an NHL team for the city, the interest would decline dramatically. Allen is known to have made an unsuccessful offer for at least one NHL team.

"We would still be interested in major-league baseball, but everyone who has analyzed the capacity of the Portland market to support two additional major-league teams is doubtful," PFE vice chairman Mark Gardiner said.

Mayor Vera Katz said she supports acquiring a major-league baseball team for the city but suggested taking things one step at a time.

"I have always been supportive of bringing major-league baseball to Portland, and I have always thought that the best way to do that is by ensuring the success of Triple A baseball at PGE Park," Katz said.

The Oregonian spoke with officials from the Seattle Mariners to gauge their reaction to the possibility to Portland being home to a major league baseball team.

"I think that it is clear that there will not be any expansion any time soon," said Chuck Armstrong, president and chief operating officer of the Seattle Mariners. "We are at 30 teams and I don't believe we will see expansion in our lifetimes, certainly not in the next decade or 15 years.

"That means if Portland is going to get a team, it would be a team that moves from somewhere else. That is a very delicate issue and one I can't talk about.

"Our view of Portland having a team, particularly in our league and in our division, is that it would be great. It would make for a neat regional rivalry. I think it would enhance both franchises and both cities, and it would help us travel-wise."

One man who believes in Portland and Major League Baseball is Randy Vataha, who a partner in Game Plan LLC, a Boston-based firm that brokers the sale of sports teams.

"I believe Portland will be a prime market for major-league baseball if they can get a properly financed stadium, subject to getting a team committed to come. I don't believe any money, either public or private, should be spent without a commitment.

"Portland is a wonderful community but not a boisterous community. It probably has suffered a little on the national sports scene because it is a little bit sleepy. Just a year ago, you hardly heard Portland mentioned as a possible relocation site. Now, the first two sites mentioned are Northern Virginia/Washington and Portland."

Attorney Jay Waldron, who along with architect John Vosmek and attorney Darian Stanford sits on the Baseball Group's board of directors, said he favored pursuing short-term and long-term strategies.

"We should be ready to attract a team with a viable stadium financing plan in case Major League Baseball solves its internal problems," he said. "But we also should have a long-term plan, based in part on the success of the Triple A ballclub that we would be seeing over the next five years or longer. That will show Major League Baseball this is a place that it should come.

"The key to being viable as a relatively small market is to have a new stadium and, preceding that, a viable stadium financing plan. Small markets that sell out downtown stadiums should be competitive with large markets when Major League Baseball gets its house in order.

"The reason that the stadium is key is because old 'sacred' ballparks like Fenway generate approximately $8 per fan in attendance, while new stadiums like Camden Yards generate between $15 and $16 per fan in attendance. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that a great stadium in a great location is the key to small-market success."

From the Sports Business News 02/06/01