Stacker Studio

Providence Park: a breakdown of the oldest major league sports venue in Oregon

Written by:
July 11, 2022
ARTYOORAN // Shutterstock

This story originally appeared on Vivid Seats and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.

Providence Park: a breakdown of the oldest major league sports venue in Oregon

Some wines and beautiful people get better with age, while others fade over the years. The same is true of sports venues. Some stadiums and arenas deteriorate and become forlorn after only a couple of decades, while others are still vital and beloved a century after they were built—helped along by occasional renovations. Cubs and Knicks fans are as fond of Wrigley Field and Madison Square Garden, respectively, as they are of their teams.

Vivid Seats determined the oldest major sports venue in every state with at least one top professional league team using data from stadium, arena, league, and news websites. Major sports were defined as all teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLS, and NWSL—pro leagues with teams that play in a total of 145 venues. The average age of these venues is 22.4 years, and only 20 opened in 1990 or earlier.

NBA arenas appear most often on the national list, with nine of the 28 venues hosting men’s basketball teams. The MLB comes in second with eight; the NHL and WNBA venues have six each; the NFL has five; the NWSL has four; and MLS stadiums appear three times.

Venues were chosen based on the original opening date. Renovations were not factored in, except in cases where the original structure was demolished.

Providence Park by the numbers

- Year opened: 1926
- City: Portland
- Capacity: 25,218
- Team: Portland Timbers (MLS), Portland Thorns (NWSL)

Providence Park has thrived as a sports venue for nearly a century now, and soccer-mad Oregonians have made it one of America’s most popular stadiums for showcasing the sport. The stadium has sold out every Timbers game since the team began playing in the MLS in 2011. The venue drew a U.S.-record crowd for a National Women’s Soccer League game in 2019 when the Thorns filled every seat.

Keep reading to see which major league sports venues are the oldest in the country.

Oldest major league sports venues

#1. Fenway Park: opened in 1912 in Boston, Massachusetts
#2. Wrigley Field: opened in 1914 in Chicago, Illinois
#3. Providence Park: opened in 1926 in Portland, Oregon
#4. Lambeau Field: opened in 1957 in Green Bay, Wisconsin
#5. Dodger Stadium: opened in 1962 in Los Angeles, California

Trending Now