The AAF is a brand new league that features teams across the United States in markets that have an appetite for pro football and after witnessing the crowds and fan support in the first few weeks, it got me thinking…. What if the AAF expanded?

Now, relax, I know that it is HIGHLY unlikely that even in the first five years the league would expand for a number of reasons: succeed with the current teams, the league is too new, too many hurdles, competition with XFL etc. etc. etc. However! This is a purely fun tangent from our usual coverage to highlight the top ten (or more) destinations that could support an AAF franchise. My goal is to release one every week on Tuesdays! Stay tuned!

#1 – Portland, Oregon

Population: within 100 miles: 3,517,081 (2017, Courtesy of Big Radius Tool)

Location, Location: Featured as #22 on the top 210 Designated Market Areas (DMA) Portland, Oregon offers a great chance for television viewership and ranks above many current NFL markets (Ex. Indianapolis, Kanas City, and Cincinnati). The location would also expose the AAF into the Pacific Northwest as a northern outpost. Portland has been in speculation of expansion in the NFL for quite some time as there are many attractive elements that this gem of a city can bring.

Football History: Portland currently supports a Division I FCS team at Portland State University that plays in the Big Sky Conference but has dabbled into the realm of professional football. Three times actually. The first came in October 1973 when the Portland Storm was founded in the World Football League and was later renamed the Portland Thunder and then folded by 1975. The second came with the Portland Breakers of the United States Football League in 1985, having relocated from Boston and New Orleans in consecutive years prior. The Breakers drew well in attendance but folded in the offseason. The last and most recent experience with pro football came in the form of Arena Football League. The Portland Thunder (later confiscated by the league and renamed the “Steel”) suffered from poor management and financial concerns in its three-year lifespan and ultimately was disbanded in 2016.

Potential Coach(es):

Mike Bellotti (responsible for the Oregon Ducks rise to college prominence, College Football Hall of Fame inductee in 2014.

Mike Holmgren (of Seattle Seahawks prominence, decades of professional football coaching experience, Superbowl XXXI Champion).

Potential Venues: Providence Park (Capacity of 22,000) is a relatively new stadium that is used by the Portland Timbers (MLS) and recently unveiled plans for a $50 million dollar expansion to expand the stadium capacity up to 25 000 and adding four levels of seats and suites. The Timbers have a strong season ticket holder base with another 13 000 on the waiting list and with the new upgrades this venue could be too good to pass up.

Potential Names / Colour Schemes: I think a strong green, red or an earthy color scheme would fit best. I’d like to incorporate the beautiful outdoor / woodsman theme with the notoriety of Portland being known as “the City of Roses”. Potential team names are hard to predict (after all, who had Hotshots?) but I’d suggest using the Storm/Thunder/Rain concept or linking to the historical ties to settling the Oregon trail; the Settlers, Trappers, Pioneers, Traders, etc. Other ideas I came across in my research: Stags? Rouges? Timberwolves? Pirates/Raiders? Just stay away from the Madden Snowhawks/River hogs/Lumberjacks or even worse: the Portland Progress (Freedom Football League)

Competition (during Feb-Apr): Unnamed XFL Seattle, Portland Timbers (MLS), Portland Trail Blazers (NBA) and Portland Winterhawks (WHL).

Conclusion:

Portland presents a lot of attractive aspects to expanding an AAF franchise to. The region has football in its roots as the state of Oregon contains two PAC-12 universities within a few hours and Portland has had some levels of professional football within the city. The one aspect that I do question is that the location of the city during the AAF schedule, Portland is not as attractive in terms of climate and temperature. However, the AAF has hedged bets on markets like Salt Lake already and the enclosed feature of Providence Park could be an intriguing prospect.

Portland would be pivotal for the AAF to expand to mainly due to the attractiveness of a large amount of surrounding population and access to the 22nd largest television market in the States. It would also allow the league to garner the support and draw the attention of the Pacific Northwest, a key demographic in the national audience. I feel like a Portland pro football team could also thrive in a smaller market as the Timbers and the Trail Blazers have a strong, committed fan base year round meaning that for five weekends in February to April can be doable.

Ultimately Portland has been a city that is constantly being speculated as a potential destination for an NFL team but would require multiple levels of fan support, sponsorship deals and a guarantee of 70-90 K fans on a regular basis to be successful. However, if the recent AAF attendance has indicated any trend, it appears that the teams are functioning well with 15-20K fans in attendance meaning that the Providence Park venue could be ideal. Portland is a very attractive prospect for expansion for all the reasons listed above and I really enjoyed researching Portland’s history and sports ventures. What do you think? What are your ideas for team names/colors? Let me know below or hit me up on Twitter!