Portland Timbers Owner Merritt Paulson Optimistic For Season, Expansion Of Providence Park

With the Portland Timbers set to start their new season on Friday night - and hopefully bounce back from a disappointing 2016 - team owner Merritt Paulson says he is focused on a bright future and an expanded Providence Park.

"I don't think I've been as optimistic about a season as I am looking ahead to 2017," Paulson told Timbers in 30 in an interview airing Thursday night.

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The team opens the 2017 for Major League Soccer on Friday when they play Minnesota United, one of two teams starting play this year.

Paulson told the show that as excited as he is for the season, he wishes that more people were able to see games in person.

"We have a lot of people who want to come to games but can't come to games," he said referring to the relatively small size of Providence Park compared to newer stadiums as well as the fact the team has a 13,000-person waiting list for season tickets.

Paulson says there is hope on the horizon.

"We have fully vetted a plan," Paulson said. "We've gone through schematics, detailed budgeting and we've come up with a plan that I think works."

Paulson said the plan, which would add 4,000 seats, would cost $50 million - more than the original $40 million renovation on the stadium before they entered the league.

"It's an extremely big investment," he said. "We'd be doing it 100 percent privately."

Watch the interview:

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