JELD-WEN joins Timbers in ‘Score A Goal, Plant a Tree’ partnership with Friends of Trees

The Portland Timbers and JELD-WEN today announced an historic new naming rights partnership for the Major League Soccer (MLS) team’s newly renovated home venue, which now will be known as JELD-WEN Field. The multi-year deal provides stadium naming rights for the iconic downtown Portland venue that annually will play host to Timbers home games, college and high school football games, and a wide variety of sports, entertainment, and community-related events.

JELD-WEN, an Oregon-based manufacturing company employing about 2,500 Oregonians dedicated to crafting reliable windows and doors, and the Timbers, who will mark their debut season in MLS in 2011, made the announcement together at JELD-WEN Field today. JELD-WEN Field officially will be opened to the public when the Timbers play host to the Chicago Fire on Thursday, April 14, in their first-ever home match as an MLS team.

Additionally, JELD-WEN becomes the Official Window and Door Provider of the Timbers and Major League Soccer, and will enter into a robust and integrated partnership with the Timbers on a number of important community initiatives, both locally and statewide. The League partnership gives JELD-WEN the right to use MLS League and Club marks along with logos and marketing assets at League and select Club events such as the MLS All-Star Game and MLS Cup, Major League Soccer’s championship game.

“From a branding standpoint, partnering with the Timbers and Major League Soccer is an ideal fit for JELD-WEN,” remarked JELD-WEN chief marketing officer Steve Wynne. “Naming rights to JELD-WEN Field and marketing partnerships with both the Timbers and Major League Soccer provide support for an historic Oregon icon, grassroots involvement throughout the state, and access to a loyal, international fan base.”

“Soccer is an international sport and we’re an international company,” noted Wynne. “We have customers or JELD-WEN operations in every city where MLS competes from Toronto to Houston and, of course, now here in Portland. We’re extending the reach of the JELD-WEN brand to homeowners we likely haven’t reached before and who care about the comfort and energy efficiency of their homes.”

JELD-WEN, a company committed to its local communities, will become a Founding Partner of the Portland Timbers Community Fund (PTCF) as part of the multi-dimensional partnership and will donate 25 tickets for each Timbers home game as part of its active involvement with the Timbers’ “Tix for Kids” community program for underprivileged youth. Additionally, JELD-WEN and the Timbers will partner with Friends of Trees to plant a tree for every goal scored by the team this season.

“It would be an understatement to say that many factors enter into a decision as important as our naming rights partnership,” said Merritt Paulson, president of the Timbers. “The fact that JELD-WEN is an Oregon-based company, has a deep-rooted history in our community and is so committed to giving back makes this marriage an ideal one for the Timbers.”

As part of the partnership, JELD-WEN’s naming rights will provide exclusive naming exposure and signage inside and outside JELD-WEN Field, including marquee signage at the main entrances; state-of-the-art, field-level LED signage during Timbers home matches; and additional promotional elements throughout JELD-WEN Field’s concourses.

JELD-WEN Field will play host to a variety of sports and entertainment events each year, including home games for the MLS Timbers, Portland State University home football games and select Portland Timbers reserve team and Timbers U-23s games. Additionally, JELD-WEN Field will be the site of high school football games, college and high school soccer games and camps, community events, concerts, and both private and public functions utilizing the many new amenities and gathering spaces included in the current renovation to the downtown Portland venue. Fans will be able to access updated information about the JELD-WEN Field at www.JELD-WENField.com as the site is fully developed in the coming weeks.

–Story provided by the Portland Timbers. You can see TV coverage and photos from the Timbers’ planting with Friends of Trees in January.