What Portland Diamond Project does

Portland Diamond Project (PDP), founded in 2017 and based in Lake Oswego/Portland, Oregon, is a privately-held management group and community campaign organized to secure a Major League Baseball expansion franchise for Portland and to develop a 32,000-seat waterfront ballpark at Zidell Yards on the South Waterfront. The organization is structured as an advocacy and deal-making entity rather than a product or technology company: it has no proprietary technology platform, no paying customers, and is pre-revenue. Its core activities are grassroots mobilization (over 75,000 petition signers across Oregon and SW Washington), political and legislative engagement, media relations, and assembly of the capital, design, legal, and community-stakeholder coalitions required to make a credible franchise bid.

PDP's 'products' are the campaign itself and the proposed ballpark concept, supported by a podcast, a community survey, and a community engagement program led by executive director Johnell Bell. Celebrity investors Russell Wilson and Ciara joined as owners in June 2018, and PDP has retained Populous Architects (partnered with TVA Architects) for stadium design, CSL for economic-impact analysis (projecting nearly $10B in revenue over 30 years and 4,500 permanent jobs), and O'Melveny & Myers LLP for legal advisory. In September 2024 PDP agreed to purchase the Zidell Yards site, and in June 2025 Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed Senate Bill 110 authorizing up to $800M in bonds — repaid by a 'jock tax' on MLB players and team executives — to finance the ballpark.

PDP's business model has no current revenue stream. If MLB awards Portland an expansion franchise, future revenue would be generated from ticket sales, media/broadcasting rights, sponsorships, licensing, merchandise, and concessions at a 32,000-seat venue embedded in an up-to-8,000-unit mixed-use development. Until that award, PDP operates on a single disclosed $500,000 funding round (October 2017) plus owner capital, with expenses covering a small staff (1-10 employees), advisor retainers, events, and marketing. The customer base consists of petition signers (fans), state and city government stakeholders, and business/community leaders — none of whom are revenue-paying customers.

Name

Portland Diamond Project

Legal name

Portland Diamond Project

Website

https://portlanddiamondproject.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Portland Diamond Project is a private advocacy and management group founded in 2017 campaigning to bring a Major League Baseball expansion franchise and a 32,000-seat waterfront ballpark to Portland, Oregon, backed by celebrity investors Russell Wilson and Ciara.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lake Oswego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. MLB Franchise Revenue (Future): If awarded an MLB expansion franchise, revenue would be generated from ticket sales, media/broadcasting rights, sponsorships, licensing, merchandise, and concessions. The organization is pre-revenue as it has not yet been awarded a franchise.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Portland Diamond Project (PDP) is a private advocacy and campaign organization leading the effort to secure a Major League Baseball expansion franchise for Portland, Oregon. Its core work encompasses community organizing, petition drives, government relations, and the development of a proposed $1.6 billion privately-financed 32,000-seat waterfront ballpark at Zidell Yards on Portland's South Waterfront. PDP is currently pre-revenue and not a commercial enterprise.

Product overview

Portland Diamond Project is a community organization (not a technology company) operating a single unified campaign to bring Major League Baseball to Oregon. The core offering is the MLB expansion campaign itself, which encompasses a proposed ballpark at Zidell Yards (South Waterfront), the Portland Diamond Project podcast, petition initiatives, and community engagement programs including surveys. The various products work together as part of one integrated advocacy and community-building effort.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MLB Expansion Campaign

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly $10 billion in economic impact over 30 years
• +4 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Restore OregonminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 February 2020Portland Diamond Project partnered with Restore Oregon to secure a new home for the 1921 Jantzen Beach Carousel, preserving a piece of Portland's cultural heritage as part of the ballpark district planning.
• Union Workers (Ballpark)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 July 2019PDP signed a labor peace agreement allowing future ballpark workers to unionize, committing to use union labor for construction and operations of the potential stadium.
• Populous ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 April 2018Populous Architects, based in Kansas City, was retained to design the proposed Portland ballpark. The firm has designed more than 20 of the last MLB ballparks built. They partner with Portland firm TVA Architects on the design.
• TVA ArchitectscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 April 2018Renowned Portland architecture firm TVA Architects partners with Populous Architects to design the proposed waterfront ballpark, providing local design expertise.
• O'Melveny & Myers LLP (Irwin Raij)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 18 April 2018Attorney Irwin Raij of New York-based sports and entertainment law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP serves as legal advisor to the Portland Diamond Project.
• Conventions, Sports & Leisure International (CSL)coreOthers · 18 April 2018CSL, a leading advisory and planning firm for the convention, sport, entertainment and visitor industries, conducted an in-depth economic study of the proposed Portland ballpark, projecting nearly $10 billion in revenue over 30 years.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Music City Baseball: The Nashville, Tennessee-based campaign organization pursuing an MLB expansion franchise for Nashville, including a proposed ballpark at the Nashville Fairgrounds. Directly comparable to PDP as a city-led advocacy and ownership group chasing the same MLB expansion slot.

Emerging players

• Charlotte FC: MLS expansion franchise that launched in Charlotte in 2022, demonstrating Charlotte's market viability for major-league professional sports. Charlotte is also widely cited as a co-favorite with Portland for the next MLB expansion slot, making it the most relevant same-market comparator.
• Nashville SC: MLS expansion franchise that launched in Nashville in 2020, demonstrating that Nashville — PDP's most direct competitor city for MLB expansion — can successfully support a new major-league team, which informs the competitive read on Music City Baseball's bid.
• Austin FC: MLS expansion franchise that launched in Austin in 2021 in a mid-sized, demographically attractive market, demonstrating the demand thesis PDP uses for Portland. Useful as a like-for-like expansion playbook in a city with no prior major-league baseball history.

Broad incumbents

• Tampa Bay Rays: Existing MLB franchise that has spent years pursuing a new stadium solution, including the failed Montreal/Tampa split and ongoing exploration of new sites. Relevant as a live example of an active stadium-and-site-relocation process with similar public-financing and political dynamics to what PDP would face post-award.
• Athletics (Las Vegas): MLB franchise that completed a multi-year relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas, funded in part by $380M in public financing. The most recent real-world playbook for how an MLB club moves to a new city with public subsidy, directly relevant to understanding the financing and political steps PDP would navigate if awarded a Portland franchise.

Regional players

• Seattle Mariners: The incumbent MLB franchise in the Pacific Northwest and PDP's most direct potential rival. Their territorial and consent posture is a critical gating factor for Portland's bid, and a successful Portland franchise would compete with Seattle for regional media, sponsors, and fans.
• Portland Trail Blazers: Portland's existing major-league professional sports franchise (NBA). Relevant as the proof point that Portland can sustain a major-league sports team and as a model for the local season-ticket, sponsorship, and corporate-partnership economics a future MLB team would inherit.

Others

• Populous: Global sports architecture firm that has designed more than 20 of the most recent MLB ballparks and is engaged by PDP (with TVA Architects) to design the proposed Portland ballpark. Comparable as a peer only in the ecosystem sense — the principal advisor shaping what a PDP-led stadium would actually look like and cost.
• Conventions, Sports & Leisure International (CSL): Industry advisor to the convention, sports, and entertainment sectors that produced the ~$10B economic impact study PDP cites publicly. Functions as the independent validator of PDP's economic case to MLB, legislators, and the public — the closest 'peer' in the franchise-bid support ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/PortlandDiamondProject
• Xx.com/pdxdiamondproj
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/portlanddiamondproject

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Portland Diamond Project