Whitecaps MLS news

[LeftCoaster]

I'm sure the MLS will push them to do so.

[Vancity]

I think if BC Place is highly renovated, there won't be a need to pursue the a soccer specific stadium for a long time. as much as i'd love to see vancouver get the ss stadium, it's not going to happen at the location that it's being suggested (downtown waterfront). i can't see it coming to reality at this point, and there won't be much political pressure to get it done. i can't see them building it out in surrey (and i wouldn't go that far to see a game) - maybe they'd be willing to revisit the possibility of building it in Burnaby? other than Burnaby, I can't see them building anywhere else (other than Vancouver, of course).

[Kodii]

Kind of old and expected news, but good to hear anyways

Vancouver Whitecaps to announce they will join MLS in 2011

By Bruce Constantineau, Vancouver Sun March 17, 2009 1:04 PM

VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Whitecaps are expected to hold a news conference Wednesday when they will announce they have won a bid to begin play in Major League Soccer in 2011.

The Vancouver bid group — including owner Greg Kerfoot, NBA star Steve Nash, former Yahoo! Inc. president Jeff Mallett and former Seagate Technology CEO Steve Luczo — is one of four groups bidding for two MLS expansion franchises.

Seven groups entered the bidding process last year but bids from Montreal, Atlanta and Miami were withdrawn because of economic issues and problems with the $40-million-US franchise fee demanded by the league.

Vancouver, Portland, St. Louis and Ottawa remain in the running for the two new MLS franchises.

The Whitecaps currently play at Swangard Stadium in the United Soccer Leagues and are defending USL champions.

If they secure an MLS franchise, they will begin play in a renovated BC Place Stadium in the spring of 2011. Stadium operator PavCo recently secured $365 million in provincial funding for stadium renovations and a new retractable roof.

The Whitecaps would play in the stadium's lower bowl, which can accommodate about 20,000 fans.

Vancouver hopes to emulate the MLS success of Toronto FC, which entered the league in 2007 and enjoys a season-ticket base of 16,000 and a waiting list of 14,000. Toronto has sold out every game at BMO Field, which can hold slightly more than 20,000 fans.

The expansion Seattle Sounders begin play in their inaugural MLS season on Thursday at Qwest Field in Seattle, where they will also play in that stadium's lower bowl, which can accommodate nearly 28,000 fans. The Sounders sold about 22,000 season tickets for their first MLS season.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Source: The Vancouver Sun -- http://www.vancouversun.com/Whitecap...865/story.html

[djmk]

from team1040

Mar. 17, 2009

The addition of Major League Soccer expansion franchises in Vancouver and Portland in 2011 will help create a new – and necessary -- developmental model for the fledgling North American professional circuit, according to TEAM 1040 sport business commentator Tom Mayenknecht.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC will be announced as the 17th team in MLS in the next 24 hours and confirmed in a media conference to be held Wednesday in downtown Vancouver. Portland, which is awaiting confirmation of a stadium financing plan approved last week by commissioners in the Oregonian city, is expected to be added as the 18th franchise within the next month.
The 15th franchise, Seattle Sounders FC, opens its inaugural MLS season Thursday when the New York Red Bulls visit Qwest Field in Seattle. Philadelphia is scheduled to bring the league to 16 teams in 2010.

“The addition of Vancouver as the 17th team and Portland as the 18th team will set the stage for a series of new business development strategies for MLS and carry the potential to transform the league and the way it does business,” said Mayenknecht, host of The Sport Market on TEAM 1040 Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. “None will be more important in my view than adopting a new player development model for clubs in the league.”

Although it won’t happen overnight, Mayenknecht said new franchises such as Vancouver, Portland and Seattle – all of them with history and tradition in the United Soccer Leagues – will through time change the business culture of MLS.

“With Seattle in this year and Vancouver and likely Portland coming in 2011, MLS has a tremendous opportunity to revisit its player development model, promote rivalries within regional blocs and diversify its franchise blueprint for the future,” said Mayenknecht, a Vancouver-based business development and marketing communications strategist with Emblematica Brand Builders. “Those are three of the new directions the league could adopt to become more viable for the long term.”

In terms of player development, MLS has to date maintained a heavily-centralized, top-heavy model in which player contracts are the property of the league. The USL has managed a decentralized model in which player contracts are owned by each franchise and is known for its Super Y League program of youth development.

“There are merits to both approaches but in my view, the only way MLS will ensure sustainability is by vertically integrating its business development and player development models deep into the markets and regions within which they’re playing,” said Mayenknecht. “A more European type model in which the professional clubs serve as the apex of regional youth and player development strategies would pay dividends for MLS, on and off the field, and set the stage for stronger relationships with the larger soccer community in North America.”

Mayenknecht noted the Whitecaps, Sounders and USL Timbers have all adopted those kinds of strategies over the years: “It would be second nature for these new franchises to bring this kind of thinking to MLS and I believe it would be in the league’s best interests to follow that path for the long-term. It makes business sense at so many levels.”

The Sport Market host also pointed to the value of the regional bloc that will be formed by Seattle, Vancouver and Portland in the Pacific Northwest.

“There are natural synergies within the Pacific Northwest to create a regional bloc built on team rivalries, fan club rivalries and youth development competition, not to mention regional television and marketing,” noted Mayenknecht. “What can be and will be done here in the Pacific Northwest should serve to bolster this kind of regional marketing for MLS as it consolidates its current franchises and plans for future expansion.”

Future opportunities, according to Mayenknecht, include bringing Montreal and Ottawa into MLS to create a regional bloc with Toronto FC, the MLS success story that regularly sells out home games at BMO Field and is this week preparing to enter its third season in the league. Montreal was an early favourite for MLS in 2011 but had its bid withdrawn in November for failing to adhere to the expansion fee of $40 M USD. Ottawa is also bidding to join MLS but does not have a stadium plan in place. St. Louis is still technically in contention but is without sufficient ownership capital.

Atlanta and Miami, the two other cities among the original seven candidate cities announced in October, withdrew their bids earlier this year.

(If Portland’s stadium plan collapses in the coming weeks, Mayenknecht believes Ottawa would sneak up the middle and claim the 18th franchise if stadium issues in the nation’s capital were resolved in time.)

“I believe MLS would be smart to use this round of expansion to move to a divisional alignment within each conference to help develop regional rivalries within regional blocs such as New York-Boston-Philadelphia,” said Mayenknecht. “It would be good for the fans, good for the media, good for broadcasters and, ultimately, good for each of the franchises in terms of ticket sales, sponsorships and merchandising.”

Another new direction – already hinted at by Garber in recent statements surrounding the sale of a league-leading 22,000 season tickets by the Seattle Sounders FC – is for MLS to diversify its so-called model franchise blueprint.

“Toronto FC was always hailed as the blueprint franchise on the strength of its soccer-specific stadium model and it’s a good one,” said Mayenknecht. “But it’s not the only one and by adapting larger stadiums to replicate the intimacy of smaller stadiums, MLS simply gives itself a more viable and flexible business plan moving forward. Seattle now and Vancouver in 2011 will demonstrate the way to stage MLS in larger stadiums. Applying those hybrid models to existing MLS markets would boost lagging ticket sales in those markets and take the league another step closer to long-term viability.”

The top-drawing teams in MLS play in smaller, soccer-specific stadiums while some of the poorest attendance figures occur in markets using large NFL-style or college football stadiums. Both Seattle and Vancouver have plans in place to concentrate ticket sales in the lower bowls of their respective stadiums. Whitecaps FC will play in the renovated BC Place stadium, which will be fitted with a retractable roof by 2011.

Mayenknecht also believes the addition of Vancouver will create new, expanded television opportunities for MLS in Canada – with CBC and possible additional partners – which in turn could leverage better television agreements and coverage in the United States.

http://www.team1040.ca/news/story/?id=1847

[Vancity]

YESSSS! We're in! Can't wait for the announcement tomorrow, and then for 2011 to come around! GO WHITECAPS GOOO!!

[djmk]

i just listened to lenarduzzi at TEAM1040 and he said that BC place will be a soccer specific stadium (SSS) and they are still working for a waterfront stadium!

[agrant]

Originally Posted by djmk

i just listened to lenarduzzi at TEAM1040 and he said that BC place will be a soccer specific stadium (SSS) and they are still working for a waterfront stadium!

Ummm... no. Lenarduzzi was probably referring to the unbuilt soccer stadium. The Lions will continue to play at BC Place. So BC Place remains multi-purpose.

[Overground]

Whitecaps have finally put on their website about the news conference tomorrow morning.

So this would be the first 'official' confirmation we've had so far. I haven't trusted the media for months now, especially with the let down places like Montreal and Miami have had.


watch live in the morning - http://www.whitecapsfc.com/announcement/

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by agrant

Ummm... no. Lenarduzzi was probably referring to the unbuilt soccer stadium. The Lions will continue to play at BC Place. So BC Place remains multi-purpose.

So are they ever going to build that waterfront stadium? or is that now just a pipe dream? regardless, i'm excited about two things now 1) Whitecaps FC an MLS FRANCHISE! and 2) an upgraded BC Place stadium. i can't wait to see some pictures of the progress that's being done at BC Place.

is the retractable roof of BC Place going to look like the ones we've been seeing on renderings, or will the design be different?

with all this being said, i'd still like to see the whitecaps build their own stadium. how nice would that be. we'd have three stadiums in the city. GM Place, BC Place, and the hopefully soon built Whitecaps stadium. If they don't come to an agreement with the Port authorities, will they build somewhere else? or is it waterfront or bust?

[Locked In]

Some more press coverage about the imminent announcement:

Whitecaps travel a long road to return to the big leagues

By Cam Cole, Vancouver Sun - March 17, 2009


An artist's rendering of B.C. Place stadium decked out to host a Whitecaps soccer game. Photograph by: .,

VANCOUVER — The first time around, they played in a league of luxury hotels and pricey international stars on their last legs.

Heady days for the Vancouver Whitecaps — and ultimately unsustainable.

Today, a humbler attempt begins, as the second incarnation of the Whitecaps becomes the 17th member of Major League Soccer, essentially the North American Soccer League’s smarter offspring: still the top league we’ve got, but on a lot shorter leash.

MLS commissioner Don Garber is expected to announce today that Vancouver will begin play in 2011.

For the team known these days as Whitecaps FC, it has been a long road back — a road that led from the Canadian Soccer League to the A-League to the United Soccer Leagues, and from the Vancouver 86ers to a rechristening under the name that still conjures up memories of sellouts in Empire Stadium and the 1979 Soccer Bowl championship.

Vancouver’s MLS entry, backed by current owner Greg Kerfoot, former Yahoo president Jeff Mallett, Seagate CEO Stephen Luczo and basketball star Steve Nash, had to pony up $40 million US ($50.7 million) to get to the head of what was once a seven-city list of expansion candidates.

“Fortunately, the people of Vancouver have supported soccer at whatever level it’s been at,” said Whitecaps FC general manager Bob Lenarduzzi, the most visible constant in three decades of soccer’s evolution and devolution in Vancouver. “The USL is good football, but MLS is a brand, like the NHL, like major-league baseball. It’s the best league in these parts.”

Reluctant to speak of a done deal because “we’re still sorting out some details,” Lenarduzzi was clearly thrilled Tuesday to be close to the finish line.

All along, the 86ers/Whitecaps have soldiered on admirably, winning more than most, keeping the pulse alive, but languishing deep in the shadows of the Canucks and Lions even as they won the USL title last year.

Limited by the leagues in which they played, and the knowledge that the most gifted Canadians would find their way to European clubs (or, since 1996, MLS), the Whitecaps were spinning their wheels. The club fielded hard-working sides with plenty of moxie but little star power, chronically dependent on the hardcore followers at 6,800-seat Swangard Stadium.

There were only two possible exits from the treadmill: the MLS, or a new stadium. In the end, they got one and almost the other.

Kerfoot’s offer to build a Gastown stadium looking out across the Burrard Inlet ran into so much nit-picking opposition, it was finally superseded (if not yet killed) by the $365-million plan to renovate and re-roof BC Place Stadium for the 2010 Olympics and beyond.

The new configuration has a roof-within-a-roof draping system that will turn a cavernous 60,000-seat football stadium into a cosy, 20,000-seater for soccer. And the MLS imprimatur should do the rest.

Toronto FC, the lone Canadian MLS team, and the Seattle Sounders, who start play this year, are already astounding success stories.

“Have you been to a Toronto FC game? It’s unbelievable. It’s like being in Europe. It’s unlike anything else in that market,” Lenarduzzi said. “They have capped season tickets at 16,000 and have 14,000 on a waiting list. That’s phenomenal, ridiculous. And then you look down the road here at Seattle, they’ve capped season tickets at 22,000.”

The Seattle Sounders begin MLS play this week, three hours and two years away.

ccole@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Source: Vancouver Sun

[Locked In]

TSN article that discusses an interesting complication in the Vancouver bid:

REPORT: VANCOUVER AWARDED MLS FRANCHISE

TSN.CA Staff 3/17/2009 10:17:53PM


Soccer fans in Vancouver may have something to cheer about as the Whitecaps are about to become part of the MLS.

Vancouver radio station CKNW is reporting that a deal between the Whitecaps and Major League Soccer has been reached and the city of Vancouver has been awarded a franchise that will begin play in the 2011 season.

The deal will be announced at a downtown press conference on Wednesday morning in Vancouver with certain provisions to be worked out later.

One of the major stumbling blocks along the way was the development system that the Whitecaps employ.

The Whitecaps work on a European model of development of players, from the youth system up to the reserves, before becoming full-time members of the team. The MLS, meanwhile, signs standard player contracts and the other 16 teams have no farm system such as the model that Vancouver uses.

Having invested millions in the development of the system, Whitecaps owner Greg Kerfoot says he does not want to give it up.

"We think that the rest of the world isn't wrong," Whitecaps' president Bob Lenarduzzi told CKNW. "The Pro clubs develop the players. The MLS have a very unique model, with the single entity concept where the league owns the contract. Ideally there is some hybrid there."

Vancouver is scheduled to become the 17th team in the MLS, with the Seattle Sounders joining this season and a team in Philadelphia to begin play in 2010.

Vancouver would be the second Canadian franchise in the league after Toronto FC, which was founded in 2006 and began play in 2007.

Source: TSN

[djmk]

Originally Posted by agrant

Ummm... no. Lenarduzzi was probably referring to the unbuilt soccer stadium. The Lions will continue to play at BC Place. So BC Place remains multi-purpose.

yes i realize that. but that is what he said about BC Place. He sounded excited about the renos

[Overground]

It's now on the front page at MLS and you can watch the news conference live at 10.15am - http://web.mlsnet.com/index.jsp

Here's the Caps page for live video again - http://www.whitecapsfc.com/announcement/


In regards to the BC Place not being a SSS. With the inner roof creating an intimate setting for 22k people. Lenarduzzi is right, it will become an SSS. The term is for a stadium with the main focus of hosting soccer matches in an intimate setting, but also hosting other sports like lacrosse or grid-iron. Some people have come to think the term means soccer only.

[agrant]

Originally Posted by Overground

It's now on the front page at MLS and you can watch the news conference live at 10.15am - http://web.mlsnet.com/index.jsp

Here's the Caps page for live video again - http://www.whitecapsfc.com/announcement/


In regards to the BC Place not being a SSS. With the inner roof creating an intimate setting for 22k people. Lenarduzzi is right, it will become an SSS. The term is for a stadium with the main focus of hosting soccer matches in an intimate setting, but also hosting other sports like lacrosse or grid-iron. Some people have come to think the term means soccer only.

So it can also become a tractor pull specific stadium, gridiron specific stadium, trade show..., concert... know what I'm sayin? Seems multi-purpose to me. BC Place was designed from the beginning to allow for all kinds of things. Putting a new roof on doesn't change anything. Anyway, call it what you will.

[hollywoodnorth]

Go Lenarduzzi Go!
Go Whitecaps FC Go!

[djmk]

from TEAM1040 in which i posted before

In terms of player development, MLS has to date maintained a heavily-centralized, top-heavy model in which player contracts are the property of the league. The USL has managed a decentralized model in which player contracts are owned by each franchise and is known for its Super Y League program of youth development.

“There are merits to both approaches but in my view, the only way MLS will ensure sustainability is by vertically integrating its business development and player development models deep into the markets and regions within which they’re playing,” said Mayenknecht. “A more European type model in which the professional clubs serve as the apex of regional youth and player development strategies would pay dividends for MLS, on and off the field, and set the stage for stronger relationships with the larger soccer community in North America.”

Mayenknecht noted the Whitecaps, Sounders and USL Timbers have all adopted those kinds of strategies over the years: “It would be second nature for these new franchises to bring this kind of thinking to MLS and I believe it would be in the league’s best interests to follow that path for the long-term. It makes business sense at so many levels.”

TSN is jealous of Vancouver and is trying to make hay. TSN SUCKS

[mr.x]

^ don't forget that fancy new field, with that optic lighting thing amajizz.

[Overground]

Is that the thingamajig that creates the lines on the pitch without using the traditional methods?

Interesting note.....Soccer America was reporting that we will have grass installed instead of fake turf but I think they got their information mixed up. http://www.socceramerica.com/index.c...&art_aid=31516

[djmk]

its official. i'm sold

[Nite]

Welcome to MLS Vancouver.