{"id":623802,"date":"2026-04-23T18:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/623802\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:11:11","slug":"vancouver-invites-potential-owners-to-bid-on-mlb-expansion-team-proposal-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/623802\/","title":{"rendered":"Vancouver invites potential owners to bid on MLB expansion team proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim wants potential owners for a Major League Baseball expansion team to step up to the plate.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Vancouver city council approved opening an “expression of interest” process<\/a> to find a qualified potential ownership group wanting to pursue an MLB expansion franchise in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

“Our chance has arrived, and this should be a home run,” Sim said.<\/p>\n

He said the MLB is considering adding two new expansion teams over the next few years and that the commissioner of the MLB is interested in teams in the west.<\/p>\n

Sim submitted the motion calling to start the process, saying it’s a “once-in-a-generation opportunity.” <\/p>\n

He added the plan could bring economic activity, civic pride and “another world-class amenity” to Vancouver.<\/p>\n

“I want to assure everyone that this motion did not come out of left field,” Sim said at council. “Our office has been approached by serious proponents regarding a potential bid for the MLB.”<\/p>\n

He called the interested parties “incredibly credible.”<\/p>\n

And the city wouldn’t use tax dollars to pay to bring a franchise to Vancouver or build a stadium, according to Sim.<\/p>\n

“It’s my intention at least that there will be absolutely no public money involved,” Sim said.<\/p>\n

But one councillor expressed concerns and voted against Sim’s motion.<\/p>\n

Coun. Sean Orr pressed Sim on whether an MLB stadium would use public land.<\/p>\n

Sim said the question was “getting ahead of ourselves.”<\/p>\n

“I’m sure there are numerous sites across the city that could be potentially used for a Major League Baseball stadium,” Sim said.<\/p>\n

\"BaseballFirst baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reacts as the Toronto Blue Jays clinch the American League Championship Series in Game 7 at home in Toronto in October. (Evan Mitsui\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Orr also asked Sim who the proponents were, but Sim did not answer and said starting the expression of interest process was to create transparency.<\/p>\n

City manager Donny van Dyk told councillors that while professional sports expansions are unusual, unsolicited proposals to council and the mayor are not.<\/p>\n

He said best practice is to open a bid process to ensure staff are meeting with credible proponents.<\/p>\n

Orr said he would oppose Sim’s motion as there are too many challenges to bringing an MLB team to Vancouver, such as a lack of corporate headquarters (which Orr cited as a reason the city lost the ill-fated Vancouver Grizzlies<\/a> of the NBA). <\/p>\n

He added the city is also at risk of losing the Whitecaps.<\/p>\n

“This just seems like a pop-fly with no runs scored,” Orr said.<\/p>\n

Sim’s motion passed with only Orr opposed.<\/p>\n

Potential owners will have to show their financial capacity, expertise and a “feasible approach and governance structure sufficient to support a credible proposal,” according to Sim’s motion.<\/p>\n

Staff will report back to council, potentially in a closed meeting, within 60 days of starting the expression of interest process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-623802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}