Oregon Public Broadcasting

Two Portland leaders have struck a deal to bring Major League Soccer that puts nearly all the risk on the team’s owner.

But as Rob Manning reports, supporters still need one more vote Wednesday, when City Council considers the deal.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams, and his fellow soccer supporter, Commissioner Randy Leonard, still need one of the three other commissioners to vote in favor of a $128 million dollar deal with Merritt Paulson.

He owns the Portland Beavers’ baseball team and the Timbers’ soccer team. He's also the son of former federal treasury secretary, Henry Paulson. 

Commissioner Leonard says Paulson and his family would be backing as much as 112 million, of the 128 million dollar cost - and the owners would be on the hook for big cost overruns. Randy Leonard: “If there was ever a set of conditions that any of our colleagues could ever hope existed to be able to vote for Major League Soccer and a new stadium, they’ll find those conditions in this deal.”

Critics may question the deal’s use of urban renewal money, which is meant to improve blighted neighborhoods.

Leonard and Adams say that spending is appropriate.