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The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade says more than 400 businesses have signed an open letter pledging support to keep the Vancouver Whitecaps from leaving town.
The campaign, which launched 10 days ago, asks businesses to join in “the private sector’s commitment to helping the club bridge its current revenue gap” through sponsorships, partnerships, and group ticket programs.
“For more than 50 years, the Vancouver Whitecaps have been a pillar of our community, and the business community is sending a clear message: we want them to stay,” said board of trade president and CEO Bridgitte Anderson.
The Whitecaps have been for sale since December 2024, and an investor group recently submitted a bid to Major League Soccer (MLS) seeking to buy the club and move it to Las Vegas, adding urgency to efforts to keep the franchise in Vancouver.
On Wednesday, officials from the federal, provincial and municipal governments, local First Nations, the Whitecaps, MLS and FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani were said to be meeting with potential investors to discuss saving the team.
“The fundamental problem we face is that the team needs a buyer and the owners want to sell,” B.C. Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon said Wednesday.
B.C. Premier David Eby unveiled renovations to B.C. Place ahead of the FIFA World Cup. The upgrades include new lounges and amenity areas, revamped locker rooms and washrooms, three new elevators and a temporary grass playing surface. As the CBC’s Yasmine Ghania reports, Eby says hosting seven FIFA World Cup games in Vancouver will have a remarkable economic impact on the province.
Kahlon said the province, through the Whitecaps’ revamped one-year lease deal with B.C. Place stadium — which is owned by the province, through the Crown corporation PavCo — had already handed the team an extra $2.5 million this year, as well as” additional revenue opportunities.”
The club has cited revenue limitations at B.C. Place as a hurdle in attracting a local buyer while exploring building a soccer-specific stadium at Hastings Park in East Vancouver.
Whitecaps CEO Axel Schuster said earlier that more than 30 potential buyers have reviewed the club’s books since the team was put up for sale, but none have been interested in operating the franchise in Vancouver under the current business model.
In its latest list of MLS franchise valuations, Forbes magazine ranks the Whitecaps at $455 million US, 29th out of the 30 clubs. That’s less than the half-billion-dollar-plus expansion fee MLS could charge new teams wanting to join the league.
The Las Vegas bid for the Whitecaps is led by businessman Grant Gustavson and includes plans for a privately financed soccer-specific stadium in Nevada. Gustavson is the grandson of Public Storage co-founder B. Wayne Hughes and the son of billionaire investor Tamara Gustavson.
Relocation requires a two-thirds majority vote by MLS owners and payment of an undisclosed relocation fee.
The board of trade says the Whitecaps bring hundreds of thousands of fans downtown each season and generates tens of millions of dollars in economic activity, supporting the hospitality, retail and tourism sectors.
The uncertainty around the Whitecaps comes weeks before Vancouver is set to host seven FIFA World Cup matches at B.C. Place starting next month.
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