History
Expansion/Birth of the Portland Thunder (2013)
On October 2, 2013, a press conference was held at the Moda Center where it was announced that sports investor Terry Emmert had purchased the membership rights to an AFL franchise. Emmert purchased the Milwaukee Mustangs, which had been a defunct franchise since the 2012 season. This essentially gave Emmert the right to an expansion franchise, since none of the team's Milwaukee roots, such as players, front office staff or coaches, remained. When asked what the biggest challenge to running a new franchise was, team president Jared Rose said, "Getting new fans to buy into something that the market really hasn’t seen before. Any new product launch is difficult, but we’ve got an exciting product that once people see it, they are hooked." On November 8, 2013, the franchise announced that the nicknames, "Thunder", "Enforcers", "Sasquatch", "Growlers" and "Stomp" were the finalist for the team. Six days later, Emmert revealed the team's nickname would be the "Thunder." The Thunder nickname has history in Portland dating back to the 1975 Portland Thunder, who played at Civic Stadium as members of the World Football League (WFL). John Canzano, sports columnist for '' The Oregonian'', wrote that a "team source" indicated that team owner Terry Emmert selected the team's nickname himself, despite claiming that fans would have the ultimate say. According to Canzano's source the "Growlers" nickname was the most popular among voters followed by the "Sasquatch".Inaugural season (2014)
The Portland Thunder began their training camp and held a media day on February 25, 2014. On March 1, the team held an intra-squad scrimmage forSecond season (2015)
The team finished with the same results in 2015, finishing 5–13. Originally the team finished behind Las Vegas in the playoff race. However, as the AFL folded Las Vegas after the season, they had amazingly slipped into the playoffs again. They lost to the San Jose SaberCats. On August 24, 2015, head coach Mike Hohensee and his coaching staff mutually agreed to part ways. On September 11, 2015, the Thunder agreed to terms to hire former Spokane Shock head coach Andy Olson as its third head coach in three years.Third season (2016)
On January 6, 2016, the AFL announced that they took over operations of the Portland Thunder from owner Terry Emmert. Emmert told the ''Portland Tribune'' newspaper that the future of the team was up in the air because he was concerned with the league's medical insurance policies and was hoping to try and attract more investors to help fund the team. This prompted league officials and the board of directors to take control of the franchise and look for new owners. The league also decided to fire Andy Olson and his entire coaching staff before Olson coached a down for the Thunder and replaced them on January 30, 2016, with former Las Vegas Gladiators, Utah Blaze, and Pittsburgh Power head coach Ron James. James was also named the team's general manager. In 2014, Emmert had trademarked the Thunder name, logo, color scheme, and identity (similar to what Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did with the identity of the now-defunct Dallas Desperados in the early 2000s). As of February 3, 2016, Emmert still legally owned the trademarks of the team, despite reports to the contrary, and had no intentions of selling them to the league. Because Emmert owns the rights to the name, there was a possibility of a return of the Thunder name to the AFL or a new team named Thunder joining the Indoor Football League, but ''only'' if the Portland AFL franchise fails in 2016. On February 24, 2016, the franchise was given a new name, re-branded the Portland Steel by the AFL. The name was derived from the region's steel industry and rich history. According to the AFL's website, the steel industry has been a backbone of the Portland working culture for over 150 years. Steel is an overtly visible part of the Portland landscape, with foundries decorating both the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, and is seen in several of the city's 12 iconic bridges. The Steel finished the 2016 season with a 3–13, but were guaranteed a playoff spot as all teams played in the playoffs. The team lost in the first round to Arizona, 84–40, in what would be the team's last game. The AFL officially folded the Steel franchise in October 2016 and placed its players into a dispersal draft conducted on October 14, 2016.Accusations of mismanagement and unpaid bills
On September 7, 2017, Portland television station KGW did an investigation about the AFL's operations following the takeover of the franchise from Emmert and reported that the league's owners Arena Football One, LLC, quietly shut down the operations following the 2016 season and left town leaving a trail of unpaid bills and failing to pay former employees and vendors money owed to them. After taking over the franchise and re-branding it as the Steel, AFL commissioner Scott Butera said in a press release, "We highly value the Thunder fans and this step was needed to stabilize the team in the Portland market." Employees, staff, vendors and even broadcasters were owned combined thousands of dollars in unpaid bills prompting several lawsuits against Arena Football One, LLC. As of September 2017, only one lawsuit was settled out of court. Phone calls and emails to the league office in Las Vegas went unanswered. The investigation even uncovered a sports jersey company in Las Vegas being owed $13,000 for manufacturing home black jerseys for the Las Vegas Outlaws in 2016. That company had still not been paid and there has been no indication of payment. Additionally, the same former employees and vendors received a letter from a law office in Vermont representing Arena Football One, LLC. The letter said the league was restructuring finances, but offered 10 to 15 percent of the money owed, if the former employees agreed not to sue. The parties refused the offer and still planned on suing the AFL ownership group following the report.Notable players
Final roster
All-Arena players
The following Thunder/Steel players were named to All-Arena Teams: * CStaff
Head coach
On October 8, 2013, Matthew Sauk was named the Thunder's inaugural head coach. Sauk had previously worked for the Utah Blaze, where he served as an assistant coach andCoaching record
Seasons
Media
On March 11, 2014, the Thunder established a local television deal with NBC Sports Northwest. Scott Lynn provided play-by-play, Jordan Kent was a color analyst, and Megan Berrey served as sideline reporter. Periodically, Portland Trail Blazers TV broadcaster Mike Barrett filled in on play-by-play. They also announced a radio deal with KXTG Sports Radio 750 AM with Jeremy Scott on the play-by-play and Brian Perkins as color analyst.References
External links