Update on the future of Stumptown Footy: here for first kick, still moving onward.

Hi friends! Happy MLS Is Back Day! (Well, for the rest of the league anyway...). Site manager Sam here with a quick update on the future of Stumptown Footy.

Last month, I shared with you all that STF was impacted by the Vox & SB Nation layoffs and that the site would no longer be supported and monetized by Vox Media. We were told that our independent contractor agreement would terminate at the end of February.

Well, it’s near the end of February... and Stumptown Footy is still here on SB Nation — for now. Through our communication with the powers that be, we were able to extend our stay on the platform past the end of February for an additional month.

What does that mean in the short term? It means we’re not going anywhere quite yet. We’ll all still be around to cover the start of the MLS and NWSL seasons for the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns. You can expect a full month of match previews, match threads (that actually get published on time, I promise!), and match recaps for the Timbers, and more Thorns focused content as we build towards the start of their title-defense season.

What does that mean in the long term? It means that after March 31, things are going to look... different (but in a good way).

The STF team was given the option to stay on Chorus (the publishing platform we utilize) for an indeterminate amount of time. But rather than stick around on some kind of zombie SB Nation thing, we decided to continue to move forward with taking the site off of Chorus and moving elsewhere.

As we go through the process of building that next phase, our priority is to continue to keep Stumptown Footy a source for independent coverage of the Thorns and Timbers. PTFC fans deserve to continue to have a space to read and talk about the teams we all love, and the whole team here is excited to build a space where we can continue to give that to you.

So: until March 31, Stumptown Footy will still be the same Stumptown Footy you know. After that? It’s probably gonna look a little different (but again — in a good way).

I want to close by saying thank you to everyone for sticking with us. Thanks for continuing to read, comment and keep the online Portland soccer community alive and well. Just like the teams on the field, it means the world to us knowing we have an army at our backs.

Good things coming, talk soon. Onward.