It’s official, the Vancouver Whitecaps have sold out BC Place.
And, they’ve rewritten their own record books in the process.
The Whitecaps announced on Friday that they’ve officially packed BC Place for their playoff game against Los Angeles FC on Saturday, Nov. 22.
There will be over 53,000 fans in the building to watch the Whitecaps try to make MLS-era history in the Conference Semifinal.
This is only the third time that the Whitecaps have advanced past the first round of the MLS playoffs. In their previous two attempts, not only did they lose, but they didn’t even score a goal. Both of those appearances occurred back in 2015 and 2017, respectively.
While the Whitecaps will attempt to end that franchise streak of futility with a goal or a win, they’ve still rewritten their own history with the historic announcement.
This is the first time in MLS-era club history that the Whitecaps have sold out BC Place for a playoff game.
Not only that, but they’ve smashed the previous mark by a long shot.
The best-attended playoff game in franchise history happened last month, when the Whitecaps had 32,066 fans watch them defeat FC Dallas 3-0 in the first game of their Round One series.
Prior to that, their best attended playoff game was back in 2023, when 30,204 watched the Whitecaps battle LAFC in the first round of the playoffs.
This has statistically been the best season in Whitecaps history, and hype around the team has never been higher.
Not only were their 18 wins and 66 points both franchise-best marks, but they have an international superstar, one of the league’s best goalies in Yohei Takaoka, and the MLS Defender of the Year in Tristan Blackmon.
The Whitecaps hope to have Tristan Blackmon back next weekend. (Simon Fearn/Imagn Images)
They also achieved success despite suffering through a slew of injuries this season.
The match versus LAFC is set up to be a close one. Both teams boast stars in Whitecaps’ Thomas Müller and LAFC’s Son Heung-Min. Both teams had eerily similar regular seasons, with Vancouver going 18-7-9, while Los Angeles went 17-8-9.
Vancouver will have revenge on the mind, as LAFC ended their season with Round One wins in both 2023 and 2024.
One difference this year is that Vancouver has home-field advantage.
That advantage will be bigger than ever when these two teams step onto the pitch next week.