“For me it was looking out into the future, where I felt the league was going and what I felt our club needed to remain viable.
“We never had an unsold seat in the prior configuration of the stadium, but we also made the determination—it doesn’t get talked about a lot—to allocate 6,000 seats to supporters and general admission seats at an artificially deflated price, which really hurt our revenue. And I didn’t want to take that away. … Just trying to ratchet up pricing on existing seats didn’t seem to me to be a real credible and good way about going and trying to make our team more financially viable and (to propel us) into a future that involves more and more spending on talent, which we need to do as a league.”
Timbers owner and CEO Merritt Paulson gave an in-depth interview to Paul Tenorio and The Athletic about the massive changes Providence Park is undergoing that will not only transform the stadium but also keep the team competitive in a rapidly changing the rapidly changing MLS. Paulson also talks about other changes to the teams – both Timbers and Thorns FC's – locker rooms, training center and the pitch.
