The Timbers still face some "major challenges as they look to expand their fan base," according to Jamie Goldberg of the Portland OREGONIAN. While the downtown location of Providence Park is "certainly a positive, the city-owned stadium has a turf surface and holds just 21,144 fans, which is a real limitation for a city and organization that claims such a large stronghold of soccer supporters." Additionally, finding a way to "significantly add more seats to the stadium has been a headache for the Timbers." The last time Portland hosted a major tournament game was in '13 when it "was named as one of 13 host sites" for the '13 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Timbers have "tried to raise their season ticket numbers and the capacity at Providence Park each year, but the increases have been minimal." Timbers President of Business Operations Mike Golub said that the club "adds about 150 season tickets a year, which hardly puts a dent in a season ticket waitlist of 13,000." Still, the Timbers are "working hard to expand stadium capacity." Golub said that the club has "recently honed in on a new expansion design that would potentially add up to 3,500 more seats, without taking away from the fan experience." The club is still "exploring the feasibility of the plan and no potential renovations would take place" until after the '18 MLS season (Portland OREGONIAN, 9/2).
