Vancouver’s mayor says the city will do “anything we can” to help keep the Major League Soccer (MLS) Whitecaps in town.
Ken Sim made the comments Monday, as the city and the club both confirmed they are in high-level talks about the possibility of building a new stadium on the PNE grounds in East Vancouver.
Those talks come with the MLS club up for sale, a decision the Whitecaps ownership group revealed in December, raising fears a new owner could move the team to a more lucrative market.
“What we’re going to focus on here is the fact that the Whitecaps might leave the region. And so we’ll look at everything … we will do whatever we can, within our power, that makes sense for the residents of Vancouver to keep the team in the region,” Sim said.
The Whitecaps are one of a handful of MLS teams that do not own their stadium.
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It’s a factor that has challenged the team’s revenue opportunities and its total franchise value.
Whitecaps CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster said having a Vancouver stadium could serve as leverage to entice a new owner to keep the club in B.C.
“We are only working on one plan, on one goal, and this means to keep the club in Vancouver and to find a very good setup for the future of this club in Vancouver, and part of all of this is to look in every possible option that might be needed to do this successfully,” he said.
“To work on an option for a potential new ownership group and have that also on the table, to say if you want to take the club from here, and you want to do a good job to continue to grow this club in this city, we also have a ready for you option on the table for a stadium.”
Officials have not released details of where on the PNE grounds a potential stadium could be built.
Nor has either side clarified what the city’s stake in a deal would be — whether it would sell, lease or transfer the land or whether it would help finance the stadium in any way.
There is also the question of transportation, with no rapid transit currently serving the site.
TransLink has put a Bus Rapid Transit line from Brentwood to the North Shore, which would pass through the area, at the top of its expansion plans — but the project currently remains unfunded.
The Whitecaps currently lease their playing space at BC Place from the provincial government, through the Crown corporation BC PavCo.
Sports and Culture Minister Spencer Chandra-Herbert said the province is also keen to keep the club in B.C.
“Obviously we are looking at the impact on BC Place — it could lead to more dates, more openings for things like concerts and other needs, better flexibility for the Lions,” he said.
“So I wish them well as they study what could work best for the organization because we want the Whitecaps to succeed, they are a great club, huge fanbase, obviously we love having them.”
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