Providence Park (formerly Jeld-Wen Field; PGE Park; Civic Stadium; originally Multnomah Stadium; and from 1893 until the stadium was built, Multnomah Field) is an outdoor soccer venue located in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. It is the home of the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Providence Park is currently the oldest facility to be configured as a soccer-specific stadium for use by an MLS team, and is one of the most historic grounds used by any United States professional soccer team. It has existed in rudimentary form since 1893, and as a complete stadium since 1926.
Providence Park has been the home of the Timbers since 1975. The stadium has been host to several major United States soccer events including U.S. national team matches, Soccer Bowl '77, the 1999 and 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the 2014 MLS All-Star Game, the 2015 NWSL Championship Game, and MLS Cup 2021.
The Portland-based Multnomah Athletic Club was founded in 1891 and soon constructed the stadium for their amateur sports teams beginning in 1893. In 1926, the facility was expanded into a complete stadium, including the upper seating bowl and the wooden benches which can still be found in the park. In 1956, the stadium was renovated in earnest for the first time to reflect its growing usage in the community. In 1966 the City of Portland purchased the park and renamed it Civic Stadium.
It was renovated in 2001 to accommodate the Timbers and the Portland Beavers, while the naming rights of the stadium were purchased by Portland General Electric and it was renamed PGE Park. In 2011, the park underwent renovations again, this time so it could accommodate the Portland Timbers MLS franchise and a year later the stadium name rights were sold, this time to Jeld-Wen ( Jeld-Wen Field). In 2014, the name was changed again to Providence Park after Providence Health & Services bought the naming rights.
A 2019 expansion raised the capacity to 25,218 and added a multi-level facade to the East End. Until 2023, the Portland Timbers sold out every game at Providence Park since moving to MLS in 2011, and the Thorns set a single-game National Women's Soccer League attendance record in August 2019 with a sell-out crowd of the same capacity. In 2019, both clubs ranked among the top ten in attendance among professional soccer teams (men's or women's) in the United States and Canada.
The stadium sits on a rectangular block bounded by Southwest Morrison Street, Southwest 18th Avenue, the Multnomah Athletic Club building and Southwest Salmon Street, and Southwest 20th Avenue.
The Multnomah Athletic Club (MAC), an sports club in downtown Portland that originally constructed the venue, stands next door; the windows on the north side of the club overlook the field.
The Interstate 405 freeway in Portland is also known locally as the Stadium Freeway and travels near the stadium. In addition, the Providence Park MAX Light Rail station is across the street. The property slopes significantly downhill from the south end to the north end, with the result that the playing surface sits well below street level. The elevation at street level is approximately above sea level.
The site was used for college football (including seven Civil War games between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University), cricket matches and greyhound racing. Well into the 1960s, most significant football games hosted by Oregon and Oregon State were held at this site because of its capacity. Oregon played in 107 games at Multnomah/Civic Stadium between 1894 and 1970. The University of Washington played all its road games against Oregon and Oregon State at Multnomah Field/Multnomah Stadium between 1923 (OSU) and 1924 (Oregon) until 1966 (OSU) and 1967 (Oregon). The site also hosted the Portland Rose Festival.
In 1956, the Portland Beavers moved to the stadium after their original field, Vaughn Street Park, was condemned. After two attempts for a Delta Dome in Delta Park were defeated by voters in 1964, the city looked to purchase what was already in existence. In 1966, the Multnomah Athletic Club sold the stadium for $2.1 million to the city of Portland, which renamed it "Civic Stadium". The city government rejected several proposed renovation plans, including construction of a 57,000-seat domed stadium, and adding a second deck supported by helium-filled balloons. Prior to the 2011 MLS season, the stadium was renamed "Jeld-Wen Field" from "PGE Park", in a partnership with Klamath Falls-based company Jeld-Wen. Jeld-Wen is a manufacturer of windows and doors, leading to the stadium's nickname, "The House of Pane." In 2014, the stadium was renamed "Providence Park" after a partnership with Providence Health & Services was announced.
Kerry Tymchuk, executive director of the Oregon Historical Society, summarized the stadium's history: "Providence Park has been home to some of the most iconic moments in Oregon sports history. It also ranks with such classic venues as Wrigley Field and Fenway Park as a stadium that has stood the test of time and that is uniquely part and parcel of the city in which it resides. ... Portland is a city that prides itself on its uniqueness. While many major cities have chosen to replace historic sports stadiums with modern domes or complexes, Portland has chosen to retain much of the original architecture and charm of one of architect A.E. Doyle's most beloved creations."
The 2001 renovation also removed the remaining seats along 18th Avenue and added in the first electronic video board in the park, modernizing the park for soccer and minor-league baseball. The stadium was temporarily expanded for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup with bleachers along the east and south ends to bring soccer capacity from 19,556 to over 28,000. A grass surface was also installed for the tournament over the existing NeXturf artificial surface.
A presentation to the Portland Design Commission indicated that 5,000 seats would be added, bringing capacity to about 22,000, but with only about 18,000 available for use on a regular basis.
The renovation met Major League Soccer standards, introduced a new playing surface, which shifted west and north, and added space on the east and south sides, with new seating areas and new amenities. The Lighthouse Impact 16 main video screen was designed by Anthony James Partners and features over of LED video. A Lighthouse B10 pitchside display runs the length of the East End and portions of the north and south ends and is over long. As the project was nearing completion, it was revealed to be $5 million over budget, making the total cost of the renovation $36 million. The agreement between the city and Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson meant that Paulson was responsible for any cost overruns larger than $1 million.
The newly renovated stadium made its début on April 14, 2011, when Major League Soccer's Timbers defeated the Chicago Fire, 4–2. The announced attendance at Timbers games in 2011 was 18,627, a sell-out.
A few thousand seats were added for two games late in the 2011 season to bring the capacity to 20,323. About 2,000 seats were opened up for the 2012 season, bringing capacity to 20,438. Following the 2012 season in which the Timbers' average attendance was 20,438, during the 2012–13 off-season the Timbers widened the pitch for the 2013 season, adding on each side to achieve a width of . The team widened the pitch by another yard in 2014, for a total pitch size of .
The club partnered with Portland-based Allied Works Architecture to design the expansion, and began construction in late 2017, with the goal of having the renovated stadium ready in late May or early June 2019.
The expanded Providence Park opened for the first time on June 1, 2019, as the Timbers hosted LAFC, selling out the capacity of 25,218. Included in the $85 million renovation were the addition of three decks of new seats, two new video boards and a modern edge-to-edge roof, as well as updated LED lighting throughout the park. The lowest tier of the new addition is a premium seating section named Tanner Ridge, a reference to Tanner Creek under the stadium, and includes separate food and beverage options from the rest of the stadium.
The renovated stand on the East End was the largest seat expansion in Providence Park history. The vertically stacked stand resembles Boca Juniors' stadium La Bombonera and was inspired by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The new stands also resemble an original, unrealized design from 1926 for the stadium that shows two-story stands. White seats in the added upper decks spell out "SC USA", a reference to Portland's NASL-era nickname of "Soccer City USA." This added to existing seats in the east stand that spell out "PORTLAND".
In 2019, Timbers and Thorns ownership were in discussions with Portland mayor Ted Wheeler about replacing the artificial turf at Providence Park with real grass. A real grass field could make Providence Park more attractive for hosting international soccer matches. , Providence Park is the only soccer-specific stadium in MLS that doesn't use real grass. It is also the only current or planned soccer-specific NWSL venue to use an artificial surface, and one of two NWSL venues, along with Seattle's Lumen Field, to use an artificial surface. The NWSL moved its neutral-site 2021 championship match from Portland to Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, a grass venue, after players publicly complained about the artificial surface and early kickoff time.
The team played at Providence Park (then called Civic Stadium) until 1982 before folding. However, they helped develop the soccer culture in Portland and the passionate fans at the park that still remain today.
The Portland Timbers were reborn in 1985, continuing to play at Civic Stadium. The club used the stadium during their time in the Western Soccer Alliance and the American Professional Soccer League until 1990.
A new Portland Timbers franchise was founded in 2001 and began to use the park again for its home games. The naming rights were sold to PGE and the stadium became known as PGE Park. A $38.5 million renovation was completed to allow for a more comfortable soccer experience. Around this time, the Timbers established themselves as one of the best-drawing teams in the A-League, averaging attendance above 5,000 in each of their four years of existence. As they moved to the USL, the club became more successful, going unbeaten at home in the 2007 regular season. In 2008, the club averaged 8,567 home fans, the second-highest in the USL First Division. In 2009, Portland was selected to become a Major League Soccer franchise, and in the same year the Timbers went unbeaten for a USL-record 24 matches in a row.
In 2011, the stadium was renovated to provide Portland with a premier location to watch the Timbers play in Major League Soccer as well as fit the standards required by the league. The $36 million renovation modernized the stadium, added a high-tech video board and added new seating and amenities. The park was renamed Jeld-Wen Field after Klamath Falls-based windows and doors company Jeld-Wen purchased the naming rights.
The stadium officially opened for Major League Soccer play on April 14, 2011, when the Timbers defeated the Chicago Fire, 4–2, before a sellout crowd of 18,627. This was the first time top-level American soccer had been played in the city of Portland since August 22, 1982.
Jeld-Wen Field was the site of the first Timbers playoff home game in their MLS history, defeating arch-rival Seattle 3–2 on November 2, 2013. This allowed the Timbers to win 5–3 on aggregate and clinch the two-game series, advancing to the Conference finals. In 2014, the stadium was renamed Providence Park after Providence Health & Services bought the naming rights. Home victories over the Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Dallas in the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs provided a launch pad to the Timbers winning the 2015 MLS Cup. In 2018, Portland hosted two rounds of playoffs at Providence Park, rewarding the home support with crucial results as the Timbers defeated Seattle and Sporting Kansas City to advance to the MLS Cup Final. The Timbers defeated Minnesota United FC and Real Salt Lake in the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs, which helped the Timbers advance to and host the 2021 MLS Cup Final, the first time Providence hosted the MLS championship game.
After the completion of the 2019 renovation, capacity at the park increased to 25,218. The Timbers played their first game at the park on July 1, 2019, against LAFC, selling out the expanded sections.
The Timbers have sold out every home game to date since their transition to MLS in 2011. Providence Park has been consistently cited as one of the best American soccer stadiums and as one of the best places to see Major League Soccer. MLS writer Charles Boehm described Timbers games at Providence Park "one of North American soccer's greatest spectacles" in 2019.
Portland won the NWSL Championship in 2013 and 2017, using home victories in the playoffs to propel them to the titles. Providence Park also hosted the 2015 NWSL Championship Game, where FC Kansas City defeated Seattle Reign FC, 1–0, to win the championship. It also hosted the 2021 NWSL Championship, where Portland also won the championship against NJ/NY Gotham FC 6–5 on penalties, with both teams scoring 1–1 in regulation.
The Thorns have had the highest average attendance in the league in each of their first seven seasons, and set a league attendance record of 25,218 at an August 11, 2019 match against the North Carolina Courage.
The Portland Beavers minor league baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) had played some games at Multnomah Field during 1905 when their Vaughn Street Park was temporarily reconfigured to host a track and field event. They moved into Multnomah Stadium in 1956 after over a half century at Vaughn Street, a wooden Baseball park which was soon demolished. The sod from the field at Vaughn Street was transferred to the new venue; Civic Stadium installed artificial turf in 1969.
From 1973 to 1977 the independent Portland Mavericks of the Northwest League played their home games at the stadium. Actor Kurt Russell was an infielder for the Mavericks. The Beavers returned to Portland in 1978 until 1993 when they were moved out of the city again. The Class A Portland Rockies were established in 1995 and played at the park until 2000 when they were moved and renamed the Tri-City Dust Devils. In 2001, the Albuquerque Dukes were moved to Portland and renamed the "Beavers" marking the third time the franchise would occupy the park for their home games.
As a baseball venue, the stadium had an unorthodox south-southeast alignment, with home plate in the northwest corner (20th and Morrison) of the property.
After it was announced that Major League Soccer was moving a franchise to Providence Park (then known as PGE Park) the Beavers had to start looking for a new stadium. However, the plan never came to fruition and team owner Merritt Paulson put the Beavers up for sale. The club's major-league parent, the San Diego Padres, purchased the team, which moved to Tucson, Arizona as the Tucson Padres. The team played its final game at the stadium on September 6, 2010.
The stadium hosted the USFL's Portland Breakers, as well as the Portland Storm and Portland Thunder of the WFL.
Soccer has been hosted at Providence Park since the original Portland Timbers were founded in the original North American Soccer League in 1975. Various iterations of the team have called the stadium home, including the 1980s version in the Western Soccer Alliance and the 2000s version in the USL First Division before the MLS club was formed.
From 2008 to 2017, Providence Park was used as home for the Timbers U23s of the USL2, a development platform for the club. Following the 2017 season, the Portland U23s moved to Salem, OR.
During the last few months of the 2020 MLS season, Providence Park hosted home matches for Vancouver Whitecaps FC after COVID-19 cross-border restrictions imposed by the Canadian government prevented the team from playing matches in Canada.
On September 7, 1997, the stadium hosted a World Cup soccer qualifying match between the United States men's national team and Costa Rica. A raucous capacity crowd of 27,396 saw the U.S. squad win, 1–0, on a goal by Tab Ramos in the 79th minute. A loud and knowledgeable stadium fully cheering on the USMNT in Portland created an atmosphere that "took years for any other American city to match".
Providence Park has hosted the United States men's national team on 4 different occasions. Outside of tournament play in the 1998 World Cup qualifying and the 2013 Gold Cup, the stadium has hosted two friendlies: on April 4, 1985, against Canada (a 1–1 draw), and on May 28, 1998, against Kuwait (a 2–0 win).
The stadium was the site of four group matches in the 1999 Women's World Cup. The stadium also hosted two group matches, two quarterfinals, and both semifinals in the 2003 Women's World Cup.
Providence Park hosted the 2014 MLS All-Star Game.
On December 11, 2021, Providence Park hosted the 2021 MLS Cup after the Timbers won the Western Conference Final over Real Salt Lake and are the highest seed remaining. The stadium saw a total attendance of 25,218 spectators.
The Providence Park all-time college football attendance record was set on October 18, 1930 as 35,266 fans watched the Oregon Ducks defeat their rival the Washington Huskies by a score of 7–0.
On 7 different occasions the Oregon–Oregon State football rivalry game was held at Providence Park, with the last time being in 1952, where the Beavers beat the Ducks 22-19.
Both Oregon and Oregon State regularly played games, especially against nearby Washington, at Providence Park up until the 1960s and 1970s. At the time, the stadium could hold or draw more fans than the schools' home fields, so it was a logical space for high-stakes games. The Ducks last played in Providence on September 12, 1970, defeating the University of California 31-24. The Beavers played in Portland all the way up until 1986, with their last game until 2022 being a 49-0 blowout loss to #15 UCLA on November 1, 1986.
Providence Park, then known as Civic Stadium, was home to many generations of high-octane offense from the Portland State Vikings, including from 1975 to 1980 when Mouse Davis, the "godfather" of the run and shoot offense and Portland State Football Hall of Famer, was the head coach of PSU. While coaching at Civic, he led the PSU football program to a 42–24 record over six seasons while averaging 38 points and nearly 500 yards of offense per game. PSU led the nation in scoring three times. The unique passing game made stars out of Davis' two main quarterbacks, June Jones and Neil Lomax. In 1975, Jones threw for a Division II record 3,518 yards. Davis' next quarterback, Lomax, set NCAA records of 13,220 yards and 106 touchdowns in 42 games. Under Davis' direction, Portland State set 20 NCAA Division II offensive records in addition to the Vikings being named the NCAA's all-time point producers in 1980, scoring 541 points in 11 games for 49.2 points per game, along with 434.9 yards passing and 504.3 yards of total offense per game.
During a November 9, 1980 game, Lomax threw for seven first-quarter touchdowns against Delaware State, which the Vikings won 105–0.
On June 25, 1992, Civic Stadium hosted a Canadian Football League exhibition game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders. At the time, the CFL was looking to scout out possible cities in the United States for expansion. A crowd of 15,362 was on hand to see Calgary win 20-1, with a Canadian rouge being scored by Toronto.
On October 27, 2007, the stadium hosted the highest-scoring game in modern NCAA football history, when the Weber State University Wildcats defeated the PSU Vikings, 73–68, a combined point total of 141 points. This point total eclipsed the previous NCAA record of 136 points, set in a 1968 Division III game, and the previous Division I record of 133 points, set in 2004. While this record lasted only two weeks, and has been surpassed four times in all, it remained the highest-scoring game involving NCAA Division I teams until 2018, when Texas A&M defeated LSU in a 74–72 seven-overtime game. Coincidentally, Mouse Davis was the offensive coordinator for Portland State at the time, returning to Providence Park under the head coaching of Jerry Glanville.
Oregon State played FCS Montana State in Providence Park on September 17, 2022, due to OSU's Reser Stadium being under construction. It was the first game in the stadium hosted by an FBS team since the Beavers last did it in 1986. The Beavers won the game 68–28.
Dimensions varied over the years somewhat. When first opened for the Beavers in 1956, the left field foul line was , deep left center field , center field , deep right center field , normal right center field and the right field line .Portland
During the 1970s, the Jantzen swim wear company had a 3D model of the Jantzen girl attached to the left field wall in its baseball configuration. The Jantzen girl was in play because it was below the top of the wall and it was hit a couple of times over the years. The Jantzen girl was removed from the outfield wall during renovations and is now on display in the concourse under the west stands.
On May 27, 1991, the stadium received national attention when Vancouver Canadians outfielder Rodney McCray, while attempting to catch a fly ball, crashed through a wooden advertisement behind the warning track in right-center field; a real-life version of an incident in the fictional book and film, The Natural. While McCray failed to make the out, he only suffered scrapes and bruises and remained in the game. Highlight reels of that play ran for weeks on cable channels such as CNN and ESPN. On August 12, 2006, the Beavers commemorated the event with a Rodney McCray Bobblehead Night, passing out of McCray to fans and renaming right-center field "McCray Alley".
In the mid-1990s the stadium was planned to be the home of the yet-to-be named Portland team, a charter franchise of the United League (UL) which was planned to be a third league of Major League Baseball (MLB).
On July 15, 2009, the stadium hosted the Triple-A All-Star Game, with the International League stars defeating the Pacific Coast league, 6–5. The game was attended by 16,637 fans, the largest crowd for a Triple-A All-Star game since 1991, and the third largest at the time. Portland's Chad Huffman won the Home Run Derby.
In a November 8, 2013 interview with the Portland Business Journal, Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson expressed his desire to host summer concerts at the stadium.
Multiple art installations and sculptures line the outside plazas of Providence Park. Those include Facing the Crowd, a series of two bronze sculptures, and You Are Here, an artistic rendition of a 12-foot wide log ring with historical artifacts of Portland's past embedded inside.
The IFC show Portlandia references Providence Park multiple times throughout the series and the lead characters Peter (Fred Armisen) and Nance (Carrie Brownstein) attend a Timbers match in a 2012 episode, bringing along a home-made sign to root for the club.
Providence Park was added to the stadium rotation in the FIFA video game series for the first time in September 2020, beginning with FIFA 21. Providence became the sixth Major League Soccer stadium added to the game, and the addition allowed for the access of all three Cascadia clubs' home stadiums for the first time. The Thorns' inclusion in FIFA 23 also made Providence Park one of four NWSL venues featured in the game.
Renovations
1956
1982
2001
2011
2019
Current tenants
Portland Timbers
Portland Thorns FC
Former tenants
Events
Soccer
4,181 25,343 10,092 18,724 13,264 25,218
1999 FIFA Women's World Cup
17,668 Group D 20,129 Group B
2003 FIFA Women's World Cup
19,132 20,012 27,623
Football
Baseball
Concerts
June 28, 2025 Post Malone Jelly Roll Big Ass Stadium Tour
Art and design
In popular culture
Feral cat colony
Gallery
See also
External links
|
|