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Clearly, just look at the success of the WNBA and the first Womens Professional soccer league

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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I would like to hear a show on the push (and the opposition) to bringing Major League Soccer to Portland.

There have been a series of Task force meetings taking place in Portland to address the decision of whether to help support the Portland Timbers bid to join MLS. There are very strong opinions on both sides owing to the fact that a condition that MLS has put on any new soccer franchise needs a soccer specific stadium. The Timbers currently play in PGE park with the Portland Beavers (a minor league baseball team). Merrit Paulson (son of Hank Paulson) owns both the Beavers and the Timbers and is the leader in bringing MLS to Portland. He has proposed that PGE Park be turned into a soccer only stadium, which would require some renovation and the Beavers relocate to a new stadium to be built in Lents Park. Both the renovations of PGE park and the construction of the new Lents Park stadium would require controversial City backed Bonds. This argument is already raging on comment sections of the Oregonian online site. Why not put it on the radio?

Merrit Paulson is very welcoming of media attention to this story and I'm fairly confident that he would welcome this show (even possibly come on it himself).

Here are some links to related website (my apologizes that most are Pro-MLS but I'm revealing my bias a bit here):
http://mlstoportland.com/
http://www.mlstopdx.com/
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2008/12/19/mls2pdx_snow_makes_the_turf_g?cb=6f7c5c22576bf60f0b09390915a4decc
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-zirin/merritt-ocracy-the-paulso_b_137217.html
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/12/stoking_the_hopes_of_majorleag.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/12/08/daily27.html

posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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