Providence Park, Portland, Oregon

Providence Park has been home to the Portland Thorns since the launch of the NWSL in 2013, back when they began as a women’s companion team to the Portland Timbers MLS squad (the Thorns ended this partnership and were sold to new owners in 2023).

The use of this stadium was quite unusual at the time; every other NWSL team in their first few seasons played at small venues for a fledgling fanbase. Due to its size, for the past 11 years, Portland’s stadium consistently brought in the highest average attendance across the league, and today Portland continues to be in the top three for game attendance every week as other teams have moved on to larger arenas.

If we had to guess why Portland loves soccer so much, the first reason might be it’s one of the few pro sports options in the region. Portland is a big city without pro baseball or pro football, and aside from the MLS and NWSL soccer teams, the NBA’s Trailblazers get most of the local sports coverage. But the Portland Timbers men’s MLS team can trace their roots back to the 1970s when they entered the NASL (the first big pro soccer league in the U.S., where Pelé played during his post-retirement seasons), and they’ve been playing in various leagues and clubs ever since with a dedicated following. The University of Portland is also nearby where their women’s NCAA team is home to former and current NWSL stars like Megan Rapinoe, Christine Sinclair, and Sophie Schmidt. The sport is such a big part of the region that Portland has long been called “Soccer City, USA.”

Attending a game in Portland with over 20,000 people is an incredible, unique experience every fan of NWSL soccer should get to enjoy at least once; it’s unlike any other venue in the league.

Portland is also a fun area of the country with plenty of outdoors adventures on offer and can make for one heck of a relaxing, enjoyable weekend. Let’s talk about ways you can enjoy a match at Providence Park.

Stadium information

Providence Park began life as an amateur sports field in the 1890s, and was eventually turned into a stadium in 1926. The park has gone through many renovations since, but you can occasionally see older parts of the park with its wood bleachers and narrow hallways. The park’s classic feel harkens back to brick-built baseball stadiums you’d find in downtowns all over the East Coast 50 to 100 years ago. That said, the stadium is not all retro or vintage, as about half of it is newly constructed to modern standards, completed in the past 10 years. It’s still by far the oldest pitch in the NWSL and MLS, with every other team playing in stadiums that are only 10 to 15 years old at most.

Where to sit

Our seating advice is as varied as the quirky stadium itself. We speak from deep experience here; as we’ve been Portland Thorns season ticket holders off and on for the past decade, with seats in four different parts of the park.

First up: The “old” part of the stadium are the numbered areas in the lower part of the seating chart above. The sections in the 100s are more exposed to sun and rain and have plastic seats. The upper 200 levels are mostly wooden benches but are under an overhanging roof providing shade and rain coverage. The newer side of the stadium is at the top of this figure where you find the sections labeled EV, ET, TR, 92-99, and C1-C5.

During early spring or late fall games, it frequently rains in Portland and sections that are under some roof cover will keep you dry. On the newer side of the park, in sections that start with ET, there is full rain coverage as well, and in the TR sections, most of the seats except the lowest rows will provide cover from rain.

At early evening games, the newer side of the stadium will have the setting sun in your eyes until sunset, but for daytime games with an early start, the newer side of the stadium is well-shaded in the TR and above sections. Same goes for the older side of the stadium, with plenty of shade to be found in the 200 sections, with the lower 100 areas in full sun.

There are accessible sections at the top of all the lower seating areas around the park, giving wheelchair users a mid-height view of the action with elevators at several points around the stadium to get up to your specific level.

For locals, the 100 to 108 sections behind the goal on the left side of the figure above are dedicated to a massive supporters area, with wooden bleachers on the top half and seats on the bottom half. The large supporters club is known as the Rose City Riveters, which is part of The 107, named after the section number itself. You will hear chants, songs, brass instruments, and drums throughout entire games, along with smoking fireworks whenever the home team scores and occasional dances that correspond to different songs. It’s a whole raucous vibe.

What to eat and drink

Food and drink options are good and always improving at Providence Park. For the previous decade, the stadium mostly offered cans of domestic beer and institutional hot dogs and burgers you could get at any sports arena. It was ironic — since Portland is known as the birthplace of nationwide trends in the food industry — as the stadium didn’t have much to offer from local chains or famous spots until recently.

In the past couple seasons we’ve seen Oregon burger chains, coffee outlets, Oregon distilleries, and other popular local food spots venture into the stadium to offer food and drinks. You can snack on Killer Burgers, drink a Dutch Brothers coffee, and eat a bowl of Tillamook mac ‘n cheese at the stadium. You can try a Hawaiian plate of pork and rice with a side of mac salad and wash it down with locally made gin or flavored vodka. And while there’s no Salt & Straw ice cream or doughnuts from the famous local chains yet, you can get a lot more options than hot dogs and plain burgers today.

The quality of food is high and the selection is wide, with traditional stadium food options alongside things like tacos, high-end burgers, and regional cuisine. There are ample bars throughout the park selling microbrews as well as national brand beer along with mixed drinks featuring products from local distilleries.

Lines move fairly fast, and before matches start it usually takes only a few minutes to get some food and drinks. Halftime is often quite busy and will take longer to get refreshments.

Team merchandise, restrooms, and pre-game activities

Portland’s stadium has a large brick-and-mortar store you can enter from the stadium side during games, and it’s open during normal business hours seven days a week outside of games. There’s also another permanent store on the newer side of the stadium where you can shop inside during games. Additionally, there are two pop-up places around the concourse area with Thorns gear for sale at every match. In some fancy parts of the stadium (like TR, the Toyota Ridge level), you can even order things off the Thorns website and have them delivered to your section for pickup during a game.

For restrooms, the newer renovated areas of the park have ample facilities, with plenty of space and privacy. The older half of the stadium has smaller restrooms with fewer stalls, but there are enough locations; there seems to be options at the top of almost every section all around the park. However, the moment halftime starts you will see lines, especially for the women’s restrooms on the older side of the stadium.

Pre-game activities are limited at Providence Park mostly due to its downtown location. It’s nestled between multiple high-rise buildings so there isn’t an open area to house much of a fan zone. Instead, people tend to show up 30 to 60 minutes before kickoff, grab some food, and watch players go through warm-up exercises from their assigned seats.

Pre-game, in-game, and post-game vibes

Pre-game vibes are chill as most people explore the stadium before making their way to their seats. You can catch players practicing on the pitch an hour before games while the large supporters section often displays a massive banner as they start their songs and chants immediately following the national anthem.

Portland’s crowds are loud (it’s the only stadium that consistently gives us dozens of loud noise warnings on our Apple Watches at every visit)

The supporters area is massive, with dozens of songs and often a brass band and drumline present to keep a beat going throughout the entire 90 minutes of play. Honestly, it’s unlike any experience you’ll have at a NWSL game.

Post-game, crowds disperse fairly quickly as people head to the exits. The Portland Thorns typically walk a slow lap together around the stadium for fans to cheer and wave, and when the Thorns win, they have a rose ceremony at the northern goal, with each goal scorer getting a rose and the goalie getting one too if they got a clean sheet that day.

If you’re looking for autographs after a match, the best place is an area below sections 115 to 117, near the player benches. There’s a designated place where kids line up and are allowed into a small area below the seats to interact with players after the parade lap and rose ceremony.

Getting there

Flying in

Portland has a fantastic, recently renovated airport with a single two-sided terminal, so it’s easy to get picked up or dropped off there, without the need for things like an airport train to move between buildings. It’s worth mentioning that Portland is a bit of a second-tier city, so direct flights might be harder to find when visiting, but because it’s a hub for Alaska Airlines, we usually find the most direct flights to Portland through them.

Renting a car or going car-free

You can definitely have a good time in Portland without the need for a car. There’s a light-rail line that goes directly into the airport terminal, offering trips to and from downtown Portland only costing $2.80 each way. More light-rail lines criss-cross the city and the town is known for hundreds of miles of bike lanes as well as ample rental e-bikes sponsored by Nike. Uber and Lyft are generally affordable, with trips costing about a dollar a minute depending on how far you need to go.

If you want to get out of town to see all the nearby natural wonders, including heading into the Willamette Valley’s world-famous wine region or visiting the Oregon coast (only about an hour away), you’ll want to opt for a rental car to get around as public transit dries up fast the moment you leave Portland’s downtown area.

Driving in

Providence Park has almost no dedicated parking lots and fans who drive in are largely left to their own devices. There are public lots sprinkled around the stadium located a block or two away, and street parking is the other main option. Most public lots charge $10 to 15 for parking during a game, while street parking tends to run about $3 an hour with online apps and sites you can use to pay for it.

We typically drive to games and often use a public lot at 17th Street and Madison a couple blocks south of the stadium, or we go with street parking when that lot is full. On the plus side, due to the dispersed parking options, heading home after a game is usually easy since there isn’t a single bottleneck from one parking lot causing traffic.

Taking public transit

Portland has a good light-rail system called MAX serving downtown and outer suburbs (including the airport) with a station right in front of Providence Park. For the 2024 season, all tickets for a Thorns game act as free passes for the MAX line, including all metro area trains and buses for three hours before and after games, which is a great perk we haven’t seen at any other NWSL stadium. Many fans who live in the western or eastern areas beyond Portland use the MAX trains to get to games, especially since parking options are scant.

Personally, our favorite way to get to games coming from the west side of town is by parking our car at the Sunset Transit Center Park & Ride in Beaverton. It offers free parking in a garage and a train comes every 8 minutes, with a ride to the stadium only 12 minutes long (just three stops to the park). Getting back to the station is equally fast after games, since most fans board eastbound trains to cross the city, leaving room on the westbound train.

Portland is a big town for cycling so it’s worth mentioning there’s also free bike parking available at every game with security staff watching over an entire closed-off city block with room for hundreds of bikes during a match.

Where to stay

For the past few years there’s been a lot of bad press about Portland but it’s mostly used to attack the area’s politics and doesn’t reflect what it’s really like in the city today. Yes, in the city’s downtown late at night, there are far too many unhoused people living in tents, but it’s largely because the city pulled support for basic services that used to help folks get off the streets. There are plenty of accommodation options outside of the central downtown area of the city in vibrant, cool neighborhoods with lots of friendly restaurants and bars.

Personally, we usually direct friends to try out the KEX or Jupiter hotels on the east side of the river, or the Ace Hotel or The Nines on the western side of the river. If you’re feeling especially fancy, there’s also a Ritz-Carlton that recently opened.

If you prefer a neighborhood Airbnb option, look for spots in the inner South East neighborhoods close to Division Street or Hawthorne Blvd., which have lots of walkable options for food and drinks.

What to do in Portland (besides watch soccer)

When you’re visiting Portland for a game, we encourage everyone to spend a couple days before or after the match exploring all the area has to offer. There are a ton of options, including:

• The natural beauty of giant, easy-to-see waterfalls at Multnomah Falls (just off the 84 freeway about 30 minutes east of Portland’s airport) or Silver Falls (about 90 minutes south near Salem in a state park).
• Wine tasting in the Willamette Valley region, about 30 to 60 minutes southwest of Portland. There are hundreds of wineries and any you pick to visit will be a delightful way to spend an afternoon.
• The Oregon coast is about an hour west of Portland and offers tons of natural beauty, overlooks, state parks, and interesting towns to visit. It will always be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than Portland, thanks to the moderating effects of the Pacific Ocean, and the seafood at coastal restaurants is fresh and excellent.
• Portland proper has tons of great parks, a zoo, a Japanese garden, a downtown Chinese garden, and a huge science museum that is fun for the whole family.
• The food culture is incredible and as the birthplace of food trucks, you’ll have no problem finding a wide variety of cuisines all over the city to choose from in dozens of random parking lots converted to food truck “pods.”
• Mount Hood is about an hour east of Portland and offers great skiing, mountain biking, and views of the volcanic mountain chain it’s part of. Lots of people visit Timberline Lodge near the summit to check out the hotel used in the movie “The Shining.” 
• Don’t forget that Seattle is only a three-hour drive north. If you’re lucky with your trip’s schedule, it might be possible to catch a match in Portland one day then drive a rental car to see a Seattle Reign game the next, all within a single weekend.

Winters are generally mild but they can be quite rainy. Going to a Thorns game before June or after September will have a high likelihood of mild temps and occasional rain so bring a jacket and be prepared. Summertime has higher temps that run from about late June to early September, but nights tend to get chilly quickly after the sun goes down.

Portland is an easy place to visit with lots of tourism options to make a vacation out of your visit. The airport is close to downtown and hotel prices are reasonable and there’s no sales tax on any purchases you make while you’re there. Portland is loaded with famous chefs and restaurants and Oregon is one of the few places where craft beers vastly outsell national brands.

The Portland Thorns are an exciting team to watch and any first time visit to Providence Park will be unforgettable due to the atmosphere from over 20,000 loud, singing, screaming fans. Many teams in the NWSL have tried to emulate Portland’s success, but attending a match while cheering along with rabid fans all packed into a classically beautiful stadium is still a one-of-a-kind experience in the league.