Alaska Airlines ending sponsorship deal with Portland Timbers after 13 seasons

Alaska Airlines is ending its sponsorship deal with the Portland Timbers at the end of the 2023 season, a company spokesperson confirmed to The Oregonian/OregonLive on Saturday.

“We’ve enjoyed a long and impactful partnership with the Portland Timbers,” a statement from the airline reads. “Our current sponsorship agreement is set to expire at the end of the 2023 season, and we have mutually decided not to renew. Alaska remains committed to the Portland market and will continue to be an active member of the community.”

The Timbers have donned the Alaska Airlines logo on the front of their jerseys since joining MLS in 2011, an exceedingly rare period of time for a club to maintain its kit sponsor. The Seattle-based airline also had an overall sponsorship deal with the Portland Thorns, but that is set to expire at the end of the 2023 season as well. It is unclear whether new ownership will pursue a partnership with Alaska, as the Thorns are set to be sold by the end of this year.

In the aftermath of the U.S. Soccer investigation’s release in October 2022, Alaska announced it would redirect its sponsorship contributions to the NWSL Players’ Association.

“We entered into this partnership as a commitment to the Portland community, and that commitment has not changed,” an Alaska spokesperson said at the time. “We will continue to seek input from players and the community to ensure our actions support meaningful change, and will reevaluate our sponsorship based on clear evidence of progress.”

The Timbers have signed with a new kit sponsor, a team spokesperson said, with an announcement expected in the coming months. The new partner’s logo will appear on Timbers jerseys beginning in the 2024 season.