Major League Soccer team Portland Timbers has agreed a multi-year community partnership with Providence Health & Services that awards the naming rights for its home stadium to the not-for-profit healthcare provider.
Known as Jeld-Wen Field since the 2011 MLS season, under a deal with the windows and doors manufacturer, Portland Timbers’ downtown home will now be called Providence Park. Defending National Women’s Soccer League champion Portland Thorns also play home matches at the stadium. Providence will continue as the presenting partner and primary jersey partner of the Thorns, while Jeld-Wen will serve as a founding partner of Portland Timbers and the official window and door provider of MLS and the Timbers.
Providence is set to benefit from extensive signage exposure inside and outside the ground, including on marquee positioning at the main entrances, LED boards during matches and further promotions in the stadium concourses. The partnership also features collaborations on a number of community initiatives, including the revival of the Special Olympics Oregon Fall Games in 2014 at Providence Park and outreach efforts through the Timbers’ Stand Together platform, along with Providence’s involvement in youth soccer camps and health and wellness initiatives for youth such as the “Play Smart” heart screening and concussion awareness programmes.
Providence will become a founding partner of the Portland Timbers Community Fund and a presenting partner of the Timbers’ Hispanic community outreach platform “Somos Timbers”. It is also committed to the “Tix for Kids” initiative, which provides tickets for local underprivileged children to attend Timbers and Thorns matches.
This latest collaboration between Portland Timbers and Providence builds upon an established relationship between the two organisations. As part of recent renovations to the stadium, the Providence Sports Care Center was established as a 12,000 square-foot facility at the south-east corner.