Sources Say Nike Likely Involved with New Women's League, Timbers Name Can't Be Used

According to sources, we have learned the new women's league will most likely have kits from Nike. If the kits are made from Nike and the league is associated with Nike the Portland team will not be able to use the Timbers name. The Timbers name has to be associated with Adidas kits only due to the contract Adidas has with MLS.

This would mean that the current Portland women's team, the Portland Rain, would be the obvious choice going forward as it's the only other name in Portland that has been associated with professional soccer in Portland over the last few years. That's not confirmed, however.

As we have also learned the Seattle team will not be associated with the Sounders, which means the league will not have a Timbers vs Sounders rivalry.

We will have more information as we get it, but suffice it to say this is not confirmed. Our sources say the deal with Nike is not a sure thing yet for the league, though they did say it was very likely.