Portland Stakes its Claim as Soccer City USA

19,123 Fans Watching the Portland Thorns in Action

Portland, Oregon, the quirky city in the Pacific Northwest featured lovingly on IFC's Portlandia, has made it known to the world that it should be prime candidate for Soccer City USA. The amount of buzz they generated in the lead up to the MLS All Stars vs Bayern Munich match has been outstanding. It delivered as well thanks to a raucous and appreciative crowd. Though it will be remembered for Pep Guardiola not shaking Caleb Porter's hand after being a bit angry with a rough challenge in a friendly. The Portland Timbers are one of the best run franchises in Major League Soccer (MLS), with a waiting list for tickets as games are routinely sold out. Now, Seattle does average 40,000 fans per game at CenturyLink Field, which is more than the 20,000 that the Timbers home (Providence Park) holds, otherwise Portland would have at least 30,000 per game and probably more if there were more seats. Seattle has certainly done a fantastic job, but you just have to love Portland. Its a smaller city than Seattle, and not nearly as high profile.

There really is another big reason for Portland getting an advantage over Seattle...their support of their National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team, the Portland Thorns FC. Sunday night on ESPN 2, the defending champs were in a must win situation against the Houston Dash and managed to pull off the win. This was in front of 19,123 fans, an NWSL record. This isn't just some fluke though, they routinely get around 14,000 fans to games, and have reached 10,000 season ticket holders, which is a huge number for a women's team anywhere in the world. It's more than some MLS, NHL, MLB and NBA teams have. They also were profitable in their very first year, a rarity for any new sports franchise. The Thorns feature Alex Morgan (USA), Christine Sinclair (Canada), Nadine Angerer (Germany), Tobin Heath (USA) and Vero Boquete (Spain) among others. But even players who aren't big International stars have become fan favorites.

The current NWSL leaders, Seattle Reign FC, have done well by boosting their attendance above 2013 numbers to see the likes of Hope Solo (USA), Nahomi Kawasumi (Japan), Sydney Leroux (USA), Megan Rapinoe (USA), Jess Fishlock (Wales) & Kim Little (Scotland). They do have a ways to go before catching Portland in attendance, but are building a strong fanbase. Granted, they aren't affiliated with the MLS owned Sounders and the Thorns are owned by the Timbers. However, you can just feel that even if the Thorns were not owned by the Timbers, they would still be pulling in big attendance numbers. The Thorns simply have one of the best stadium atmospheres in all of sports. Fans bring creative signs and tifos led by the Rose City Riveters supporters group. They constantly chant and cheer until the end of the match, light up flares to send up red smoke when the Thorns score and cheer on their team even in a loss. One can hope they rub off on the rest of the NWSL.

The Pacific Northwest rivals of Portland & Seattle have given rise to enthusiastic & involved soccer fans, and it is now starting to spread elsewhere.

NWSL Season Ends On A High Note

The first season of the NWSL (National Women's Soccer League) is in the books. Portland Thorns FC defeated Western New York Flash in the championship on Saturday night 2-0, on a soaring golazo from Tobin Heath and a late clincher from Christine Sinclair (with the assist by Alex Morgan). Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd and the Flash played well but just couldn't find the net, as Karina LeBlanc was on her top form. LeBlanc probably would win a seat as the mayor of Portland if she ever chose to run. The whole game was exciting from start to finish, and was even better than NBC's slate of EPL games on Saturday.

Thorns fans packed Jeld-Wen Field all Year

The Portland Thorns set the standard for women's club soccer, averaging over 13,000 fans per game with a season high of 17,619 on August 4th. US Soccer President Sunil Gulati said there won't be any expansion in 2014 as they focus on the current teams building their base. He did say there could be more NWSL teams that link up with an MLS (Major League Soccer) team. The New York Red Bulls and Sky Blue FC were the clubs mentioned who could form a partnership. The Portland Timbers ownership also owns the Portland Thorns, which has given them this big edge. They were able to bring in many Timbers season ticket holders, and the "Timbers Army" supporters group members joined the "Rose City Riveters" Thorns supporters group in giving the Thorns an atmosphere that can rival some European men's teams.

US Soccer Doubleheader June 2nd

On Sunday June 2nd, US Soccer continues the 100th anniversary celebration by having a rare doubleheader of "friendlies". First the US Men's National Team takes on world power Germany at 2:30pm ET on ESPN. Then the US Women's National Team takes on Canada in Toronto at 4:30pm ET on ESPNews in the anticipated rematch of the controversial game from the London 2012 Olympics.

In the men's game, USA will be playing against mostly bench players from Germany. However, bench players on Germany would likely be starters on most other teams, so it won't be much easier for them. Also missing will be Landon Donovan, who hasn't been called up for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers in June. However it was just announced he will be on the 2013 Gold Cup roster. He makes the team better, so not seeing him at the 2014 World Cup should the US qualify would be a surprise.

Then comes the main event, being dubbed simply "The Rematch" by the Canadian Soccer Federation. The game sold out in less than an hour, as 22,000 people will be packing into BMO Field in Toronto to watch rivals Canada & USA meet for the first time since the outstanding semi-final match at the 2012 London Olympics. Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan will of course be on hand, as well as Canadian star Christine Sinclair. Hope Solo is still recovering from surgery, so she did not make the trip. Sinclair & Morgan are NWSL teammates for the Portland Thorns, so it will be fun to see them as opponents once again. Even though this is a friendly, it will be an intense back and forth match that both teams want to win even though it doesn't have an impact on anything besides the FIFA rankings. Expect an involved crowd and for the boos to rain down on USA, especially Sydney Leroux, the dual Canadian-American citizen who chose to play for the US over Canada.

This is no doubt a huge match for Canada. Its a fantastic test to see how they handle the pressure of so many hometown eyes on them. A sold out crowd and millions watching on TV, facing one of the world's best teams on their own turf. In two years, Canada will stage the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and the attention will be far greater. A strong showing on Sunday would increase fans' interest and excitement even more than it already is. One thing is certain, the 2015 Women's World Cup should work wonders for soccer in general in Canada, much like the 1994 World Cup & 1999 Women's World Cup did for soccer in the USA. The Canadian women have already become well known stars thanks to their bronze medal performance at the Olympics, and its great that the USA finally has a team that can challenge them in CONCACAF.

NWSL: Portland Sets A Record

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) kicked off last week, but the game everyone was waiting to see was Seattle Reign FC vs Portland Thorns FC, in the Thorns' home opener this weekend. Portland had confirmed they sold 7,000 season tickets (which is more than some NHL, NBA & MLB teams like the Marlins & A's), so people knew the crowd would be big. They ended up getting 16,479 fans in attendance at JELD-WEN Field, which is a record for the new league and an impressive number. The fans were able to leave happy, with the Thorns picking up a hard fought 2-1 victory, where US Women's National Team star Alex Morgan netted Portland's second goal. The game was fantastic, and the Reign played well even without Hope Solo & Megan Rapinoe, who will be back later in the season. Canadian star Christine Sinclair plays up front for the Thorns, creating quite the dynamic duo with Morgan.

The crowd was electric, with chants filling the stadium that could also be picked up well on the online stream, which used the radio broadcast for sound. The crowd was not mic'd up (which they need to do for future games), yet we could still hear some through the announcers' booth and get a taste of what it was like. Portland Timbers fans have really showed their support, so hopefully it spurs other MLS teams (such as Vancouver Whitecaps) to pursue an NWSL team. Let's also hope other NWSL teams will be able to learn from the Thorns and grow their fanbases as well. 

The supporters' group, the Rose City Riveters, deserve a ton of credit for helping to create such an involved environment that every team in the NWSL should strive to get. I don't live in Portland, but the energy of the fans have spurred me to become a Thorns (and Timbers) fan. I have no doubt in my mind that 16,469 is only a benchmark. I fully expect the Thorns to eclipse that number should they make and host a playoff game.