Stadiums & Arenas of Canada, Part 3

[Denscity]

There is an announcement tomorrow morning regarding a possible new soccer stadium at Hastings Park in Vancouver.

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by Denscity

There is an announcement tomorrow morning regarding a possible new soccer stadium at Hastings Park in Vancouver.

I'll miss seeing 55k at BC Place for the Caps. But this is necessary I suppose. Also, the downtown vibe of BC Place is tough to replace, oh well. Best fan base in the MLS, returning home to Boundary Road (ish).

[cjones2451]

Originally Posted by csbvan

I'll miss seeing 55k at BC Place for the Caps. But this is necessary I suppose. Also, the downtown vibe of BC Place is tough to replace, oh well. Best fan base in the MLS, returning home to Boundary Road (ish).

It was an announcement of a formal MOU, so nothing we didn't really already know. Will be interesting to see where this leads, with a stadium and entertainment district. Possibility of the Lions being involved and I am sure there has to be a hotel, casino etc involved as well to make the finances work. Hopefully no taxpayer money.

https://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/cit...acecourse-park

[northernlights99]

pic of 1963 Grey Cup game at old Empire Stadium.

Note how back then the field yardage was marked off every 5 yards as opposed to 10 yards today.

And the old H style rugby goalposts later changed to the current slingshot design.

Also note how far the seats are set back due to the running track. The end zone was 25 yards deep then so corners were cut off.

And those awful support columns holding up the roof, if you were unlucky to be sitting right behind a column blocking off your view.

It also appears the teams were on opposite sidelines back then so I guess later they changed to the current both teams being on same sidleline ?

This was the famous game where Angelo Mosca kicked Willie Fleming in the head almost leading to a riot. Hamilton won the Grey Cup right in Vancouver beating the Lions 21 to 10.

Interesting note the scoreboard on north end, the Export sign, cigarette ads were allowed then lol.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by cjones2451

It was an announcement of a formal MOU, so nothing we didn't really already know. Will be interesting to see where this leads, with a stadium and entertainment district. Possibility of the Lions being involved and I am sure there has to be a hotel, casino etc involved as well to make the finances work. Hopefully no taxpayer money.

https://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/cit...acecourse-park

Like, I get Vancouver has more than enough people to support both a "soccer specific stadium" and BC Place, but isn't land also extremely scarce in the Lower Mainland? I'll never really get the whole "the stadium is too big for soccer line"... when really, it sounds like the MLS and CPL's tickets are too expensive if they have such a hard time filling up their stadiums.

Personally, I think it makes more sense for Vancouver to focus on upgrading BC place, and get real grass installed. It seems kinda ridiculous that Vancouver of all places doesn't have real grass at their football stadium.

Moreover, I think it makes more sense for Vancouver to build a new, MLB ready ballpark than build a new, Soccer specific stadium. Presently, Vancouver has an MLS team, a CPL team, and a CFL team, so building an entire stadium for an MLS that they already have just seems kind of wasteful to me.

I know Vancouver getting an MLB team is a bit of a long shot, but Vancouver is probably a more attractive expansion or relocation market to the MLB than Montreal if we're being honest. Building an MLB ballpark obviously would not be cheap, but Vancouver is a world class city with many ultra-rich residents and many corporate headquarters... I think going for a ballpark/ MLB team is a far more aspirational goal for the city than a smaller soccer stadium for their football club that already exists.

Though I guess while land is limited in Vancouver, there's still room for BC place, a new soccer stadium, and an MLB ballpark... I just can't help but find the idea of building a second, smaller soccer stadium for the Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club to be wasteful/excessive.

[ericmacm]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Like, I get Vancouver has more than enough people to support both a "soccer specific stadium" and BC Place, but isn't land also extremely scarce in the Lower Mainland? I'll never really get the whole "the stadium is too big for soccer line"... when really, it sounds like the MLS and CPL's tickets are too expensive if they have such a hard time filling up their stadiums.

Personally, I think it makes more sense for Vancouver to focus on upgrading BC place, and get real grass installed. It seems kinda ridiculous that Vancouver of all places doesn't have real grass at their football stadium.

Moreover, I think it makes more sense for Vancouver to build a new, MLB ready ballpark than build a new, Soccer specific stadium. Presently, Vancouver has an MLS team, a CPL team, and a CFL team, so building an entire stadium for an MLS that they already have just seems kind of wasteful to me.

I know Vancouver getting an MLB team is a bit of a long shot, but Vancouver is probably a more attractive expansion or relocation market to the MLB than Montreal if we're being honest. Building an MLB ballpark obviously would not be cheap, but Vancouver is a world class city with many ultra-rich residents and many corporate headquarters... I think going for a ballpark/ MLB team is a far more aspirational goal for the city than a smaller soccer stadium for their football club that already exists.

Though I guess while land is limited in Vancouver, there's still room for BC place, a new soccer stadium, and an MLB ballpark... I just can't help but find the idea of building a second, smaller soccer stadium for the Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club to be wasteful/excessive.

The primary reason the Whitecaps are pursuing a new stadium is due to a revenue issue. Their revenues are amongst the lowest in the MLS (they are losing money every year) and it is largely due to their agreement with PavCo in BC Place. A report had indicated that the Whitecaps only get 20% of gameday concession revenues which can make a huge difference on the financial side of things. They also don’t appear to appreciate being kicked out for FIFA 2026. Like it or not, money is the root of the sports business and a team losing money every year is bad business, especially given that the Whitecaps were #7 in the league for attendance in 2024.

The big question now is whether or not the Lions will join the Whitecaps in this initiative. That would have huge implications for BC Place and PavCo if they end up tenantless.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by ericmacm

TThe big question now is whether or not the Lions will join the Whitecaps in this initiative.

They have been involved and aside from his own resources, Doman brings a lot of useful connections to the table. Whether the Lions stay involved will remain to be seen.

It's still a while away. I've found it usually takes about eight years from the first serious drawing to stadium completion. The Riders did it in a little less. The actual construction is usually two and a half years.