Portland sweeps up the Davis Cup

Memorial Coliseum might seem archaic to Portland sports fans and Paul Allen, who once pitched converting it into a big-box retail center.

But to U.S. tennis officials, the Glass Palace was good as gold — a “clean venue” free of corporate signs, allowing them to promote their own international sponsors that underwrite the tennis showcase known as the Davis Cup.

The U.S. Tennis Association today plans to announce Portland as the host of the first Davis Cup final in the United States in 15 years. Local organizers say the coliseum’s interior was a big factor in helping Portland edge out Winston-Salem, N.C., San Diego and Oklahoma City, even though the other cities’ arenas are all younger and the oldest (in San Diego) was recently renovated.

 – Excerpt from The Oregonian, September 26, 2007