Portland Timbers to change name of stadium to Providence Park

Portland Timbers fans will be packing the stands at Providence Park after the club signed a new naming rights deal on Monday. (Doug Beghtel/The Oregonian/AP)

Starting this season, those vivid images of the banners, scarves and smoke bombs furnished by the Timbers Army will be coming to you live from Providence Park.

Portland's MLS team isn't moving, but Jeld-Wen Field is no more. The Timbers on Monday announced a long-term stadium naming rights sponsorship with Providence Health & Services, a non-profit health care provider. The parties announced a "multiyear deal", which The Oregonian reporter Geoffrey Arnold said will run all the way through 2028.

Jeld-Wen, an Oregon window and door manufacturer, will remain a Timbers sponsor but will have its name removed from the stadium's famous facade.

"This partnership signifies a huge commitment to the community from the largest private employer in Oregon, which will keep Providence Park the name of our facility for years to come," Timbers owner and president Merritt Paulson said.

Providence already was the jersey sponsor for the Portland Thorns, the professional women's team owned by Paulson that won the inaugural NWSL title last year. Paulson claimed early Monday that the Thorns were approaching 10,000 season tickets. The facility formerly known as Jeld-Wen Field sells out for Timbers matches, of course, and is slated to host the 2014 MLS All-Star Game that will feature a league select squad and reigning FIFA Club World Cup titlist Bayern Munich.

The Providence name also was on the 12,000-foot sports medicine and orthopedic center located on the stadium's southeast corner.