{"id":637913,"date":"2026-04-30T05:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T05:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/637913\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T05:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T05:24:13","slug":"businesses-worry-about-potential-loss-of-vancouver-whitecaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/637913\/","title":{"rendered":"Businesses worry about potential loss of Vancouver Whitecaps"},"content":{"rendered":"

With ongoing concern about the future of Vancouver\u2019s Major League Soccer (MLS) team, businesses in the city are worried about the impact on them if the Whitecaps were to leave.<\/p>\n

Shark Club Sports Bar manager Murray Saunders is one of many who became concerned about the possible departure following reports that MLS may be eyeing Las Vegas as a new home for the team.<\/p>\n

Saunders\u2019 worries come not only as a fan, but also as a business owner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a great partnership with the Whitecaps,\u201d said Saunders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re literally across the street from us. They bring us a lot of business, and it would be very difficult to replace that if they do, in fact, move. They\u2019re some of our best guests.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Whitecaps reported seeing over 530,000 fans at games last season, breaking their club record.<\/p>\n

Wyatt Tierney with the Vancouver Southsiders \u2014 the Whitecaps\u2019 largest supporters group \u2014 says the hype didn\u2019t end last year with their memorable playoff run. He says fans are still putting their money into local establishments as they root for their team.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor last weekend, we had both the main floor and second floor of Dublin Calling out, it was full, we had the patios full, it was overflowing to the streets,\u201d Tierney said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would call that a normal day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Fans of the Vancouver Whitecaps gathered at Dublin Calling in a show of support for the team. (CityNews Image)<\/p>\n

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has stepped in, saying losing the MLS franchise is \u201cnot an option.\u201d He\u2019s called on the provincial government and the team\u2019s owners to strike a short-term bridge deal to keep the Whitecaps in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

Early Wednesday, B.C. Premier David Eby said he would be meeting with the head of MLS later in the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be asking him, \u2018What is it? Can we get a specific proposal from you or the Whitecaps team about what it\u2019ll take to stay?’\u201d Eby said.<\/p>\n

But amid so much uncertainty, there is one thing many can agree on.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be devastating if the team were to leave Vancouver,\u201d said Tierney.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tFans of the Vancouver Whitecaps gathered at Dublin Calling in a show of support for the team. (CityNews Image) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With ongoing concern about the future of Vancouver\u2019s Major League Soccer (MLS) team, businesses in the city are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-637913","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\/637913","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=637913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}