Portland's return to football spotlight leaves Viks on the sidelines
Oregon State hosts Montana State at Providence Park as Portland State can only watch
Ask anyone involved with the Big Sky Conference what is holding back Portland State football and their first answer is always the same: The stadium.
For the last four seasons, the Vikings have been locked out of their longtime home, Providence Park, situated less than 20 blocks from their downtown campus. Instead, they’ve had to travel 20 minutes to the Western suburbs to Hillsboro Stadium.
The reasons Portland State can no longer gain regular access to the publicly-funded stadium are vague and often flimsy: the field quality of the stadium’s artificial turf suffers and the scheduling dates of fall football interfere with potential playoff games in the MLS and NWSL.
The Timbers won the MLS Cup in 2015 and the Thorns the NWSL title in 2017, pushing the Vikings out shortly after. After years of driving up the rent and changing availability, there would only be one type of football played in old Civic Stadium. The soccer franchises and the city that answers to them deemed it no longer possible to work around five days on the calendar.
Until this weekend.
Last fall, Oregon State announced it would bring FCS football back to Providence Park, hosting a game against Big Sky compatriot Montana State.
And like that, all of the reasons that gridiron football games couldn’t be played at the venue seemed to go away.
It will be the first game in Portland for the Beavers since 1986. The Bobcats have a much more recent history in the building, going 4-5 in nine games against Portland State at the Goose Hollow venue since 1997.
“It pisses me off,” Viks head coach Bruce Barnum said in his weekly radio interview.
“I can answer that right away. It straight pisses me off, I mean come on. Are you kidding me?”
The loss of Providence Park left Portland State in a lurch. Forced out of the place they called home since before professional soccer came to the city, the Viks lost their biggest recruiting advantage: a towering statement piece that mirrored the strengths of the university and showcased the vibrancy of the city it represented.
They were left with an enthusiastic but generic replacement in the suburbs, disconnected from PSU in almost every way, both physically and philosophically.
That shift has left Portland State in its current state: flush with talent and opportunity but capped by scarce resources.
How do you increase those resources? In short, either find one big donor or a bunch of small donors. Ideally, both.
The easiest way to do that? Win. And then find a stadium that makes it easy to attend games so those donors will see the team win.
The only publicly-owned venue in Portland that can currently accommodate? Providence Park.
Ouroboros.
“I wish it wouldn’t have happened,” Barnum said. “There was a lot of good for Portland, not just us. All the high schools, all the playoffs. It was a destination. Not just for soccer … I enjoyed what it was.”
“I’m pissed because I would love to have it back.”
The stadium conversation won’t go away.
In addition to Barnum, new athletic director John Johnson has been asked about it numerous times since he took over this summer and has deflected each time.
A potential deal with nearby Lincoln High School, across the street from Providence Park, was deemed too expensive under the last administration.
On campus, Stott Field remains a central part of the athletic facilities and the Viks practice home but has limited space in its surrounding corridors for installing permanent seats or other gameday infrastructure like camera booths, coaching boxes and ADA-acceptable seating.
The only other football field near downtown, Duniway Park, doesn’t have seating or adequate parking and — perhaps more importantly — is adjacent to Under Armour headquarters and would come with another world of negotiating headaches for the Nike-funded Viks.
Any other land on the west side of the Willamette is undeveloped and would come at a steep price unless gifted by the city or the Port of Portland, that’s before costs accrue from design and construction.
Johnson’s job is made more complicated by the shifting leadership at the university, with President Stephen Percy checking out at the end of this year and any long-term fundraising projects likely to be foisted on the next hire, with huge caveats built in for that person’s thoughts on the idea of athletics and their place in the collegiate model.
The Viks have adapted to their situation, making the best out of Hillsboro and buying into the potential of the venue. Even in the best of situations, it will remain a struggle to entice fans to make the trip, but once they’re there, the department has taken cues from its minor league baseball neighbors and made the environment fun and entertaining.
But there’s no escaping the topic. Portland State needs a downtown stadium to fully unleash its potential and increase its fundraising and athletic budget to where it needs to be to compete with the top of the Big Sky.
The best hope is that this weekend’s game will remind the powers in City Hall that football has a long-term home in downtown’s biggest venue.
ACROSS THE BIG SKY
Lots of FCS vs. FCS matchups in the league this week, headlined by No. 8 Sacramento State’s trip to perennial power Northern Iowa.
Northern Arizona looks to introduce itself to the top 25, hosting former conference opponent North Dakota, ranked No. 22 in the latest media poll.
No. 3 Montana makes a rare road trip to a nonconference FCS opponent and No. 12 Weber State will look to sweep its scheduled in-state opponents with a date against Utah Tech.
Saturday, Sept. 17
No. 3 Montana at Indiana State, 10 a.m. PT, ESPN+
Cal Poly at South Dakota, 11 a.m., ESPN+
Drake at Idaho, Noon, ESPN+
Central Arkansas at Idaho State, Noon, ESPN+
No. 22 North Dakota at NAU, Noon, ESPN+
No. 8 Sacramento State at Northern Iowa, 2 p.m., ESPN+
Northern Colorado at Lamar, 4 p.m., ESPN+
No. 4 Montana State vs. Oregon State, 5 p.m., Pac-12 Networks
Utah Tech at No. 12 Weber State, 5 p.m., ESPN+
San Diego at UC Davis, 7 p.m., ESPN+
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