Whitecaps MLS news

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Nobody says they are doing that.

Well, the offer has leaked, so who knows? Under the headline Vancouver Whitecaps make bid to run BC Place "According to reports, the team has made an offer to PavCo — the Crown corporation that runs BC Place — and the provincial government to take over operations at the stadium.

Michael McColl, managing editor of AFTN, first broke the news on his soccer podcast, Away from the Numbers.

“They would operate the venue, they would control the dates,” McColl said.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by djmk

part of the ticket price you are paying now does not go to the whitecaps

And if they take over operations, it would only pass through the club before paying for what it already pays for right now. Unless of course they come up with "efficiencies" like paying lower wages, hiring less staff and doing less maintenance, which is usually what happens with privatization like this.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by djmk

part of the ticket price you are paying now does not go to the whitecaps

If the Caps co-manage, wouldn't they just take the whole cut? Since the goal is a completely new stadium, they may even consider raising prices.

[officedweller]

I could see them holding playoff dates in reserve for themselves and not booking events through those dates - so potentially less bookings and less revenue.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by mcj

What planet are you living on where a business lowers prices?

They'll charge the maximum they can and if that means the stadium is 50% full but tickets are 150% higher in price, they've still made more money.

Only way we'd actually see lower ticket prices is if people stopped going period. Which would likely mean a move out of Vancouver before it would lower ticket prices.

BC Lions lowered prices and created a better atmosphere in the stadium. That's the blessing/curse of having a big building. People complain when it's half empty, but it's amazing when it's full.

Businesses lower prices all the time for all kinds of reasons.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I could see them holding playoff dates in reserve for themselves and not booking events through those dates - so potentially less bookings and less revenue.

Yes they have complained about that in the past. I think soccer is a bit different with so many "non league" games.

On the other side, the BC Lions play a lot less games but they never seem to have a scheduling issue.

Simply giving the Whitecaps "first dibs" might help solve the issue.

[jollyburger]

I don't think the BC Lions conflict with the Whitecaps since they can convert it over for the other team by the next day. It's probably more with other events that takes place at the stadium.

They had to play that playoff game in Portland but BC Place said they could have fit them in a day earlier from the proposed date but MLS rejected it.

Is BC Place more valuable to the city as a sports stadium or concert venue?

https://theprovince.com/sports/soccer/ml...-whitecaps-stadium-availability-bc-place

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I don't think the BC Lions conflict with the Whitecaps since they can convert it over for the other team by the next day. It's probably more with other events that takes place at the stadium.

They had to play that playoff game in Portland but BC Place said they could have fit them in a day earlier from the proposed date but MLS rejected it.

Is BC Place more valuable to the city as a sports stadium or concert venue?

https://theprovince.com/sports/soccer/ml...-whitecaps-stadium-availability-bc-place

It's not just concerts. In 2024 the Whitecaps had a game against a Mexican team in the Concacaf Champions Cup that they wanted to schedule for February 7th, but the BC Home and Garden show was setting up to open on February 8th, so they ended up playing in Langford. It's interesting to consider how that situation would be resolved differently if the Whitecaps were managing the booking for the venue.

[officedweller]

If they know the playoff schedule a year or so in advance, scheduling around it should be easy.

[djmk]

Originally Posted by officedweller

If they know the playoff schedule a year or so in advance, scheduling around it should be easy.

its possible not to know the schedule a week in advance

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by djmk

its possible not to know the schedule a week in advance

Hmm. Yeah, thinking it through, it would probably be a large number of days blocked off since they wouldn't know their placement going into the playoff series,
so tracking each potential path through the series would probably be the same as blocking off whole months.

[djmk]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Hmm. Yeah, thinking it through, it would probably be a large number of days blocked off since they wouldn't know their placement going into the playoff series,
so tracking each potential path through the series would probably be the same as blocking off whole months.

I would imagine that can get expensive with the 4 tournaments/playoffs the team play in.

[hollywoodnorth]

Earth to everyone here in this thread: The team is being sold and will move to Las Vegas

https://www.tsn.ca/soccer/article/invest...uy-whitecaps-and-move-team-to-las-vegas/

I can guarantee you there's no way they're staying so bookmark my post and come back to it in a couple of months when the deal is fully complete and you can all have a good cry in the meantime

As a taxpayer I have zero interest in letting the Whitecaps control a publicly owned asset. In addition they could have built their own stadium over the past decade. If they were smart they would have teamed up with the PNE and modified the amphitheater project and made it dual use. But they have no interest in staying. The owners do not care. They are flipping the team for money. This has been a long-term goal of theirs. If this was a feasible idea to keep the team in Vancouver and build a new stadium, we have plenty of multi-billionaires who would do it. The same people who own hockey teams in Dallas and Vancouver, etc., would step up to the plate but they obviously know what the math dictates. This is not a viable investment in a city like this.

[Tysonbrown]

Hollywoodnorth is posting old news from April.

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by Tysonbrown

Hollywoodnorth is posting old news from April.

And MLS doesn't really WANT the team to move to Vegas. There is a STRONG possibility that they expand the league from 30 to 32 teams and they already KNOW Vegas will pony up for an expansion team... so why would they want to move a successful team with a strong fanbase, in a geographic location where fans will travel up and down to games with Portland and Seattle?

Moving the Whitecaps can affect Seattle and Portland as well.

[svlt]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

Earth to everyone here in this thread: The team is being sold and will move to Las Vegas

https://www.tsn.ca/soccer/article/invest...uy-whitecaps-and-move-team-to-las-vegas/

I can guarantee you there's no way they're staying so bookmark my post and come back to it in a couple of months when the deal is fully complete and you can all have a good cry in the meantime

As a taxpayer I have zero interest in letting the Whitecaps control a publicly owned asset. In addition they could have built their own stadium over the past decade. If they were smart they would have teamed up with the PNE and modified the amphitheater project and made it dual use. But they have no interest in staying. The owners do not care. They are flipping the team for money. This has been a long-term goal of theirs. If this was a feasible idea to keep the team in Vancouver and build a new stadium, we have plenty of multi-billionaires who would do it. The same people who own hockey teams in Dallas and Vancouver, etc., would step up to the plate but they obviously know what the math dictates. This is not a viable investment in a city like this.

Yeah you can mark my words in two months and have a good cry about it later when they announced they're staying

everyone saying mark my words while hiding behind an online screen like they are some genius. come on man.

I'm not saying they are moving or staying but the confident declaration is seriously unbecoming of a long time forum user unless you are literally Don Garber or Greg Kerfoot

[madog222]

Group led by former Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths makes offer to buy Whitecaps

Former Vancouver Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths is leading a group that has made an offer to buy the MLS team, Sportsnet's Dan Murphy reported Friday.

Griffiths sold the Canucks to John McCaw in 1997. He was also responsible for bringing the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies to the city in 1995. The Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2001.

From Sportsnet https://www.sportsnet.ca/mls/article/gro...-griffiths-makes-offer-to-buy-whitecaps/