Vancouver Whitecaps CEO says proposed new stadium a bid to keep team in city

Shaurya Kshatri · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 06, 2025 4:36 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

The Vancouver Whitecaps' CEO says a projected caller team-owned stadium is portion of a semipermanent program to support the city's nonrecreational shot squad based successful Vancouver.

On Friday, the Whitecaps had announced they were exploring the thought of gathering their ain venue astatine the PNE fairgrounds, adjacent wherever the club's aged stadium erstwhile stood.

As the club's ownership radical — Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett and Steve Nash — prepares to merchantability the city's Major League Soccer team, analysts accidental the club's determination to physique their own stadium whitethorn beryllium portion of a strategy to make much revenue.

Axel Schuster, the Whitecaps' CEO and sporting director, told reporters Saturday the nine is exploring each imaginable options to support the squad successful Vancouver — and that stadium discussions person go portion of that process.

"We are lone moving connected 1 plan, 1 goal, and this is to support the nine successful Vancouver and to find a precise bully setup for the aboriginal for this nine successful Vancouver," Schuster said.

"The ownership radical hasn't fixed up connected the club, and the ownership radical isn't moving away," Schuster said. "They person the biggest involvement that this nine stays here, finds a palmy setup, [and] that we find a adjacent ownership group."

The metropolis confirmed Friday evening that "discussions astatine a precocious level" person taken spot betwixt the squad and metropolis officials, but declined to connection further details.

While the projected determination has yet to beryllium finalized, Schuster said the metropolis approached aboriginal conversations "very open-minded," though it is inactive "the opening of a process."

The PNE fairgrounds has humanities value for the club. When the squad archetypal formed nether the North American Soccer League successful the 1970s, they played close adjacent to the fairgrounds astatine what was past Empire Stadium.

The abstraction aboriginal became Empire Fields, wherever the team debuted successful Major League Soccer successful 2011. Today, the tract is location to assemblage turf fields. 

"It would bring immoderate of that past afloat circle," said Vancouver-based sports commentator Gurpreet Sian.

He added that the Whitecaps are 1 of the fewer Major League Soccer clubs that bash not run their ain stadium, a origin that has apt contributed to the team's little valuation compared to different franchises.

"Out of the 29 teams, they ranked 28th successful presumption of their worth due to the fact that they're 1 of the fewer teams that doesn't run their ain facility," helium said.

Most recently, the Whitecaps person been playing astatine B.C. Place Stadium and using a grooming installation astatine the University of British Columbia. But their lease astatine the downtown stadium is acceptable to expire astatine the extremity of 2025.

Schuster confirmed the squad is besides successful talks with B.C. Place relation PavCo astir a "different benignant of lease" for the future. PavCo issued a connection saying it values its concern with the nine and understands the ownership is "exploring respective options."

"B.C. Place is arrogant to beryllium the existent location venue for the Vancouver Whitecaps," the connection read. "We volition proceed to research the champion ways to enactment the wide maturation of shot successful British Columbia."

WATCH | Whitecaps owners to merchantability club: 

One expert says the stadium announcement whitethorn beryllium arsenic overmuch astir leverage arsenic it is astir semipermanent planning.

"The cynical broadside of maine would person said that this is partially posturing, fixed that the B.C. Place lease expires astatine the extremity of this season," said Peter Schaad, a shot podcaster and erstwhile Whitecaps commentator.

"But the shot romanticist broadside of maine says bring it on, due to the fact that the nine has ever wanted to person its ain facility."

Schaad said controlling their ain venue would springiness the Whitecaps the quality to negociate scheduling, gross streams, and the wide instrumentality acquisition — each important to the concern exemplary of a modern shot franchise.

"You get to power each of your ain bookings. You get to power erstwhile your games are. It's huge," helium said.

The Whitecaps accidental they look guardant to continuing engagement with the city.