Portland Timbers to Expand Seating Capacity for Two Matches
by Geoff Gibson on Aug 23, 2011 11:57 AM PDT
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PrintAsk and ye shall receive, or so the popular saying goes. Apparently demand is high enough for Portland Timbers tickets this season that the Timbers FO is going to open up some of those tarped seats in the north end to allow for a couple thousand more fans to squeeze into our already crowded stadium.
The expansions will take place on September 16th against the New England Revolution and on October 14th against the Houston Dynamo.
"When considering our maximum capacity entering our first MLS season, we opted to cover certain sections out of concern that our concourse width affects the fan experience over a certain attendance threshold," said Mike Golub, Timbers COO. "We are comfortable with the current operation of the venue and are undertaking a two-game test of attendance increase to see if we can permanently expand our capacity a bit and meet increased demand with negligible impact on the overall fan experience."
I'm not sure I really agree with the Timbers current assessment. Getting out into the concourse at halftime from the Timbers Army section is unbearable. Adding a couple thousand more people will make it crazy.
The new capacity will be 20,323. Should this prove to work and demand holds, the Timbers will look into making this more permanent while also expanding season ticket holders by 1,000 to a maximum of 13,500.
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Is it all north end seats, though?
there are a fair few tarped over seats on the east side, as well. This pretty much ensures I will never leave the seating bowl at half time.
On the bright side..
The north end has the most exits available, so from that standpoint it makes the most sense to add to capacity here.
I know it sounds like hearsay, but
at Blazer games I feel okay with leaving during the game because they have all those TVs and the radio team playing over the sound system on the concourse so I won’t miss what’s going on even if I’m not seeing it. It’d be great if the Timbers could do something like that.
As much history and all as there is at Jeld-Wen, unless they were somehow able to knock down the MAC or have them shrink their space so we could add seats to the South End, the stadium’s demand will always far, far exceed the supply. The Timbers’ home stadium should be able to accommodate something closer to 25,000+ but that’s never going to happen at that site so we need to deal with it best we can.
Knew I should’ve just bought season tickets when I barely had money for rent and just dealt with living out of a car for a month or two. Season ticket waiting list sucks.
They have the radio
Playing in the background if I remember correctly (haven’t left mid-game yet this year).
I agree... Went to the concourse just before half vs. Vancouver and heard the roar of the crowd
Figured it was a goal, then heard boos and even before I could hear it on radio knew Kenny was offsides (or at least someone; Cooper was first on my name list out of habit). But still, it would be nice if there were just some small tv’s with the game playing along the concourse. I know they make em!
And I agree about the season tickets. I’ve contemplated just living out of my car for a couple months and buying one of those old mini-motorhomes that you can crawl into the drivers area from the living space
Blazers win!
I think it's possible to expand seating on the south end...
don’t tell me some engineers can’t figure out how to build a stand that goes right up against the MAC’s wall while still accommodating a little roadway underneath it.
I would also like to add that I hate how much influence the MAC wields in regards to JW. Shove off and let the masses see some soccer. I don’t care if your view isn’t as rosy from the freakin’ workout studio!!!!
You realize they own a non-insignificant chunk of JWP's land, right?
it’s not just influence for the sake of it – the MAC is the reason JWP is allowed to exist. The south end of JWP will probably never change in a major way because of that.
We were talking about it at the reserve match on Sunday
We thought:
-Mount the scoreboard on the side of the building, next to the balcony
-erect stands to the highest level possible so that the MAC can still have their views.
-Make sure the MAC signs off on this; it would be better for the community and a PR boost for the MAC
Blazers win!
It's not so much "make sure the MAC signs off on it" as it is "present it to the MAC and see what they say"
The MAC doesn’t need PR; they’re a private club. And again, they own the land on which the south stands sit, so they presumably had their say during construction and this is what they proposed. The Timbers’ hands are relatively tied as far as the south end goes.
To infinity and beyond!
My experience at break hasn’t been bad. I can normally leave my seat with 5 minutes remaining in the break and still make it back for kick off. But I’m not standing in line for food.
It would be interesting to hear the Timber’s long range vision for Jeld-Wen. What is the maximum size stadium that the market could support? Is there a possibility of building additional seats over Key Bank? Can the south end be reconfigured to add additional seats? And is it possible to build kiosks that stand outside of the north end, but serve the patrons inside? How long before they need to start looking for a new facility?
Of course none of this helps the bathroom situation.
Do what you must to renovate and make accomodations at JW
But the FO better not dare think of relocating outside the city if the demands get so high. Knock the whole facility down and build a new stadium in its place while the Timbers play at UP if you must, but the TImbers should always play in Portland proper. Gob forbid they become the Portland Timbers of Beaverton.
Mixed
I’m a little bit concerned about the bathroom lines if this happens. The men’s restrooms only have three urinals and two stalls a piece, which means that the lines have the potential to get backed up. That being said, I’ve never had to wait too too long to get in at halftime.
It would be cool to at least try an un-tarped stadium though. I always thought those things looked weird.
Well, between Scotch and nothin', I suppose I'd take Scotch. It's the nearest thing to good moonshine I can find.- William Faulkner
burn the tarps!
I’m all for it. An even larger TA… Awesome! Yeah, I know there are always drawbacks, but I have yet to leave my standing spot (“seat”) during a game or at halftime. I’m too busy having a good time with my friends! A key point to remember is, a soccer match lasts only 2 hours. Baseball, football, NBA basketball last much longer.
I just asked Merritt on Twitter if we could have a "burn the tarps" party if this is a success
I’ll let you know if he answers
Blazers win!
First reply:
@The_Xman19 not a foregone conclusion it will be success. adding hawkers, portables etc but its tight already. will be monitoring closely
Blazers win!
Solution
Timbers Catheter giveaway night!!!!
But then someone would throw one at Perkins and things could get real ugly.
volatilelyle.com
by almost awesome on Aug 23, 2011 9:46 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
I save my anger for one team and one team only....
The L*kers…. sorry S**ttle, but you don’t get that level of hatred…yet
Blazers win!
Oh that goes without saying
but only as long as they’ll let me come back to CL for Seahawks games
Blazers win!
A couple ideas
1. Instead of urinals do the wall trough thing. Then way more people can take a slash at the same time in the same amount of space. We are all friends here.
2. Adding some more seats to the south deck in addition to what the FO is trying for these two games should be able to get us to a capacity of around 21,000.
3. In the long term I think our current stadium with a capacity around 21,000 that is very loud is perfect. Yes it means people who want to get in cannot but I love the intimate atmosphere right downtown and the view over the east side to street level. I would not change that just to add some seats.
Agreements with the neighborhood mean street views must stay in place.
The 2000 renovation created such an appealing look for the neighborhood that they demanded stadium views stay in place. Really, it is great to be near Jeld-Wen and see the stadium and not 12 foot high fences with barbed wire on top like the stadiums I’ve walked by in Scotland and Sweden.
Jag kom, jag såg, erövrade jag.
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