Paulson Needs Finance Deal By Sept. 1 For Portland MLS Team
 |
PGE Park Hopes To Add
About 10,000 Seats |
USL Timbers and Triple-A PCL Portland Beavers Owner Merritt Paulson "must have a signed finance and construction deal with the city to renovate PGE Park by Sept. 1 to bring" MLS to Portland by '11, according to Mark Larabee of the Portland OREGONIAN. The Portland City Council voted 4-1 yesterday to "separate the soccer and baseball stadium projects after months of numbers crunching." The vote "averted the looming threat" that MLS could "pull the plug on the expansion team it awarded Paulson in March." However, the council's resolution "does not lay out specific financial arrangements for either project or contractually bind the city or Paulson in any way." Work on PGE Park "will be phased in to allow the Beavers to play there most of the 2010 season." Initial plans "call for adding about 10,000 seats to the existing 19,980 seats, making the stadium more of a bowl than the triangle it is now." Meanwhile, City Commissioner Randy Leonard and Paulson have "agreed to look for a new site within city limits for the Beavers' stadium until Aug. 1." Paulson said that he is "committed to Portland." But it is "possible that the Beavers could move out of town, either in the metro area or farther afield." Leonard "hopes to avoid that." Any deal "crafted on baseball or soccer will address the same financing issues as in the past: how much taxpayers will contribute, what pots of public money will be used, and who will pay back any loans made on the city's credit cards." City Commissioner Nick Fish, who in March voted against a proposed financial deal that included soccer and baseball, said that he "still maintains a high bar for using public money on the sports deals, but will review any 'financially responsible' proposal that brings" MLS to town (Portland OREGONIAN, 6/25).
|
Related Stories By Company
|
Related Stories By Sport
|
Catching Up With RSL President Bill Manning
November 20, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
MLS Commish Sits For Wide-Ranging Q&A
November 20, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Would RSL Win Create Issue For MLS?
November 18, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
MLS' Garber: Talk Of Strike Is Premature
November 17, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Slow CBA Talks Could Force MLS Lockout
November 13, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
|
Catching Up With RSL President Bill Manning
November 20, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
MLS Commish Sits For Wide-Ranging Q&A
November 20, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Will Handball Harm Henry's Marketability?
November 20, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Hansen Formally Buys 49% Stake In RSL
November 19, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
Would RSL Win Create Issue For MLS?
November 18, 2009 :
SportsBusiness Daily
|
|
