Portland Timbers Exploring Expansion of Providence Park Capacity

City-owned stadium is bursting at the seams.

By Nigel Jaquiss

Portland Timbers and Thorns fans may get a late holiday present: expanded seating at Providence Park.

Officials at the city of Portland, which owns the 21,144-seat stadium, and the adjacent Multnomah Athletic Club say Timbers officials have contacted them about possibly adding seats at the south end of the field.

Providence Park has open space between the south goal line and the MAC. Timbers president Mike Golub says the team has engaged an architect and would like to make a "meaningful" addition of 1,000 to 2,000 seats if the numbers pencil out and the city and the MAC concur.

The team would pay for all work and hopes to decide whether the project is feasible in the next 90 days. "It has to make economic sense," Golub says, "but we're excited by the notion."

Golub says it's unclear when the work could be done in the event the project moves forward but he says it probably would not be before the 2018 season.

The Major League Soccer-champion Timbers have sold out 90 consecutive games, and the Thorns FC led the National Women's Soccer League in attendance last season.

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