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Sports in Portland, Oregon facts for kids

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Portland, Oregon, United States, is home to three major league sports teams — the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association, the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer, and the Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League. The city also hosts a wide variety of other sports and sporting events.

Current notable teams

Basketball

The Portland Trail Blazers have played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) since the 1970 season. The Trail Blazers have played in three NBA Finals (1977, 1990, 1992) and have won one NBA Championship (1977). Several of the Trail Blazers' former players are in the Basketball Hall of Fame, including Dražen Petrović, Bill Walton, Lenny Wilkens, Clyde Drexler, and Arvydas Sabonis. Furthermore, the team has retired several numbers including Terry Porter (#30), Maurice Lucas (#20), Larry Steele (#15).

The Portland Chinooks played in the International Basketball League at The Courts in Eastmoreland.

Hockey

The Western Hockey League's Portland Winterhawks have played in the city since 1976. They split their home games between the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Moda Center. They have won three league championships (1982, 1998, 2013).

Soccer

Providence Park Portland Timbers vs Columbus Crew 2016-03-05
Providence Park is the home venue of the Portland Timbers (MLS)

The Portland Timbers joined Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2011 after having past incarnations from 1975–1982, 1985–1990 and 2001–2010. They play at Providence Park, where they average over 20,000 fans and routinely sell out matches. As of November 2013, the Portland Timbers had sold out the last 50 consecutive matches, and over 10,000 fans were on the wait list for season tickets. They won their first MLS Cup in 2015.

The Portland Timbers 2 have been playing in the USL Championship since 2014. Portland Timbers 2 (often referred to as "T2") is the reserve squad of the (MLS) club Portland Timbers. The Portland Timbers 2 formerly played at Merlo Field but now play at Providence Park.

The Portland Timbers U23s have been playing in USL League Two since 2010 and play in Salem, Oregon at McCulloch Stadium.

In 2012, Portland Thorns FC and the National Women's Soccer League were officially formed, with both the team and the league beginning play in 2013. The Thorns won the championship in the inaugural NWSL season and again in 2017, and have led the league in attendance in each of its first seven seasons.

Baseball

Professional baseball was played nearly continuously in Portland from 1901 until 2010, absent only during the 1994 season. The original Portland Beavers were the longest lived team, playing every season from 1901 to 1972, though occasionally under a different name. Various minor league baseball teams played in Portland thereafter, including revived Beavers teams between 1978 and 1993 and again between 2001 and 2010. Since 2010, there has been no professional baseball played within Portland city limits.

Established in 2015 the Portland Pickles are an active team in the WCL (West Coast League). The Pickles play at Walker Stadium located inside Lents Park in SE Portland. In the summer of 2020, the WCL took a hiatus and the Portland Pickles formed the WWWL (Wild Wild West League), consisting of four teams: The Portland Pickles, The Portland Gherkins, The Gresham Greywolves, and The West Linn Knights. Beginning in 2013, the Hillsboro Hops have played at Ron Tonkin Field in the nearby suburb of Hillsboro, about 15 miles west of Portland. A farm team for the Arizona Diamondbacks, they play in the High-A West.

List of current teams

Portland area sports teams
Club Sport League Championships Venue Founded Attendance
Portland Thorns FC Women's soccer National Women's Soccer League 1 (2013) Providence Park 2012 13,320
Portland Timbers Soccer Major League Soccer 1 (2015) Providence Park 2009 20,806
Portland Timbers 2 Soccer USL 0 Merlo Field 2014 2,323
Portland Timbers U23s Soccer Premier Development League 1 (2010) Providence Park 2008
Portland Trail Blazers Basketball National Basketball Association 1 (1976–77) Moda Center 1970 19,829
Portland Winterhawks Ice hockey Western Hockey League 2 (1982–83, 1997–98) Moda Center 1976 6,537

Defunct sports teams

Baseball

The Portland Beavers were a Triple-A baseball team from the Pacific Coast League affiliated with the San Diego Padres. The most recent franchise, which left after the 2010 season to become the Tucson Padres and is now known as the El Paso Chihuahuas, was founded in 2001, though the Beavers name dates to an early Portland baseball team established in 1903.

Baseball teams called the Beavers existed in Portland from 1903–1917 and again from 1919–1972 and 1978–1993, and finally from 2001–2010. In 1973, after the Beavers moved to Spokane, Washington, the Portland Mavericks came to town in the form of an independent Single-A team within the Northwest League. From 1973 to 1977 they played in what was then known as Civic Stadium. The Mavericks were owned by ex-minor league player and television actor Bing Russell. When Russell sold the team back to the Beavers in 1978 it was for $116,000, at the time a record amount for a minor league franchise. The most recent Beavers franchise also played at Civic Stadium. The original Beavers stadium was Vaughn Street Park located in northwest Portland. The Beavers won the Pacific Coast League Pennant the following years: 1906, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1932, 1936, 1945 and 1983. When the Beavers relocated to Salt Lake City in 1993, another Northwest League team, the Portland Rockies, moved in for the 1995 season, playing until 2000. When the Beavers returned for the 2001 season, the Rockies relocated to Pasco, Washington to become the Tri-City Dust Devils. The final version of the Beavers also played in Civic Stadium, renamed PGE Park upon their arrival. After the city announced plans to renovate PGE Park to a soccer-specific stadium for the Timbers, and a proposed park for the Beavers failed to materialize, the team moved to Tucson and then to El Paso.

Football

In 2013, it was announced that the Arena Football League (AFL) was expanding to Portland and the Portland Thunder was originally owned by Terry Emmert. The Thunder's first game occurred on March 17, 2014, against the San Jose SaberCats at Portland's Moda Center. Prior to the 2016 season, the AFL took over operations of the Thunder while looking for new local ownership. The team then changed its name to the Portland Steel for the 2016 AFL season. The team folded after the 2016 season.

Prior to the Portland Thunder/Steel, Portland had the Arena Football League team the Portland Forest Dragons. In years of 1997, 1998, and 1999, the Forest Dragons compiled records of 2–12, 4–10, and 7–7, never making the playoffs while in Portland. During the 1998 season the team featured receiver Oronde Gadsden, who won the league's Rookie of the Year award, and went on to sign with the NFL's Miami Dolphins.

Other defunct teams

The Portland Pride was established in 1992 as a founding member of the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL), which began play in 1993. The team played its home games in Portland's Memorial Coliseum. In 1997, the team and the league played its last season. The CISL folded and the Pride ownership moved the team to the Premier Soccer Alliance, where the team played under the name Portland Pythons.

  • The Portland Power competed in the American Basketball League from 1996 to 1998.
  • The Portland Breakers competed in the United States Football League during the 1985 USFL season.
  • Portland had a team (Portland LumberJax) in the National Lacrosse League.
  • The Portland Storm and Portland Thunder competed in the World Football League in 1974 and 1975.
  • The Portland Fire competed in the WNBA from 2000 through 2002.
  • The Portland Buckaroos competed in the (PCHL/NWHL) from 1928 to 1941, in the (WHL) from 1960 to 1975, and in the (WIHL) in 1975.
  • The Portland Rosebuds were two early professional hockey teams, one of which in 1916 was the first Stanley Cup finals participant from the United States.

Other venues, events, and activities

Portland&MtHood
A view of downtown with Mt. Hood in the background.
  • Auto racing. Portland was on the Champ Car World Series circuit, hosting the Grand Prix of Portland race at the Portland International Raceway from 1984–2007. PIR also hosts a race on the American Le Mans Series and a variety of SCCA, historic, and annual races such as the Rose Cup during the city's Rose Festival.
  • Skiing and snowboarding are particularly popular with Portlanders.
  • Rock climbing is growing in popularity as an outdoor pastime. At numerous small crags around town, one may glimpse mountaineers-in-training with their ropes, alpenstocks, and hard-soled boots practicing their technical moves on the rock in preparation for difficult alpine ascents.
  • Running is a major important sport in the metropolitan area, the home of Nike and of Adidas' American operations. The Portland Marathon has been held annually in the city since 1971. The Hood to Coast Relay is the world's largest running relay race, with approximately 17,000 racers per year running from Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood to the Pacific Ocean at Seaside.
  • Horse Racing. Horses have run at Portland Meadows since 1946.
  • Velodrome. Amateur cycling has occurred weekly at the Alpenrose Velodrome since 1962.
  • Cricket. Portland has its own cricket league called Oregon Cricket League (OCL) estb. 2005 that provides 2 formats of the game of cricket year around; T20, the 20 overs cricket league played in colored clothings, and the longer format of 30 overs league played in whites. Beaverton United Cricket Club is the reigning champion of the T20 league, winning it 3 times in a row from 2011. Northwest Cricket Club is the current champion of the 30-30 cricket league.
  • Delta Dome, a proposed stadium in 1964
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