The Portland Timbers pack JELD-WEN Field week in and week out, regardless of opponent, current league standing, or inch after inch of pouring rain from minute 1 to 90. They need no help to put butts in their seats and provide one of Major League Soccer's very best in-stadium, playing atmospheres.
That doesn't mean they're satisfied and content with the enormity of their passionate, local fanbase, though. In fact, not only are they not happy to sit on a good thing and ride it out from there, the Timbers front office launched a new campaign this year to actively seek out and provide "Timber rookies" the opportunity to experience the pagaentry that is being inside JELD-WEN Field, to be a Timbers supporter.
While one would imagine that obtaining a non-season ticket admission into JELD-WEN Field on a regular basis is no small task, that hasn't stopped the Timbers organization from making every effort to "Spread The Love" to Portlanders who have, for whatever reason, never seen the Rose City team play.
Throughout the course of the 2013 season, the campaign will call for the Timbers to deputize 107 different club ambassadors — thus far anyone from season ticket holders, to local city activists, and even stadium employees — to select a nominated candidate to receive their introductory, live Portland Timbers experience. Along with four scarves for the select few, are four tickets to a first team game, four tickets to a reserve team game, and four tickets to a Portland Thorns women's team — owned also by the Timbers — game.
As if the Timbers needed an even stronger foothold on the population of Portland, even after the severe upturn in results under new head coach Caleb Porter, the front office has given first-time JELD-WEN Field experiences — many of whom will undoubtedly be back again and again — to 31 Portlanders who otherwise might have never taken that Timbers leap.
