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<\/p>\nGustavson, 30, is the grandson of Public Storage co-founder B. Wayne Hughes and the son of billionaire Tamara Gustavson, one of the company\u2019s largest shareholders.<\/p>\n
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Multiple groups are believed to be exploring relocation options as MLS reviews the Whitecaps\u2019 future.<\/p>\n
The club has been up for sale since 2024, with ownership citing ongoing challenges tied to stadium control and revenue at B.C. Place.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past 16 months, we have had serious conversations with more than 100 parties, and to date, no viable offer has emerged that would keep the club here,\u201d the Whitecaps said in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt remains the strong preference of this ownership group to find a solution in Vancouver. If there is a local ownership group with the vision and resources to chart a path forward, we urge them to come forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
News of the bid from Gustavson\u2019s group came a day after B.C. Premier David Eby met with MLS commissioner Don Garber and described the talks on the team\u2019s future as \u201cconstructive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garber is in Vancouver for FIFA Congress events, but a spokesperson said he will not speak with media on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Garber met with Eby on Wednesday, and the premier released a video Wednesday night saying the province is \u201cat the table fighting hard\u201d to keep the team in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the World Cup coming, we are a world-class football town \u2014 losing the Whitecaps is not an option,\u201d the premier said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the shots of the fans out at the rally to save the Whitecaps. We are on the same side; we will fight hard to save our team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hours later, a now-deleted post from Garber\u2019s X account replied: \u201cLiar, liar pants on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
A league spokesperson later said the commissioner\u2019s account was compromised.<\/p>\n
Ravi Kahlon, B.C.\u2019s minister of jobs and economic growth, who has been speaking for the government on the issue, said he would take the commissioner at his word that his account was taken over.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, being hacked is never a pleasant experience. I\u2019m sure the commissioner is happy that it was only one tweet that got out from his account,\u201d he told reporters in the legislature.<\/p>\n
Kahlon, a Whitecaps season ticket holder, said the government wants the club to remain in Vancouver because the team is an important part of the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand that the value has gone from $35 million to close to $500 million, and they see an opportunity to cash in on that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we also believe that the MLS owes it to the fans in Vancouver to do whatever they can to keep the team here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The minister said the league has stepped in to prevent other teams from leaving their cities, and the same opportunity could happen in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
About three dozen Whitecaps fans gathered Thursday outside the Vancouver Convention Centre, where the 76th FIFA Congress is being held, greeting arriving soccer dignitaries with a protest amid uncertainty over the club\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
Fans held \u201cSave the Caps\u201d signs and sang club chants.<\/p>\n
The demonstration comes as a campaign to keep the team in the city continues online, with a petition on savethecaps.com drawing 8,550 signatures as of Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people marched to B.C. Place behind a giant banner reading \u201cSave the Caps\u201d ahead of Vancouver\u2019s game against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday. <\/p>\n
Inside, more than 2,000 fans held paper signs \u2014 provided by the team\u2019s supporters groups \u2014 with the same message as players walked out onto the field. <\/p>\n
Others brought their own visual messages of support, including a giant banner reading \u201cWe will fight for our club and we will win\u201d next to an image of a fist. <\/p>\n
A sold-out crowd of 27,589 people watched the game, marking the 19th-straight MLS match where the \u2018Caps have drawn a crowd of at least 20,000 fans. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve known for a little while now that the team is up for sale. But our job at the end of the day is to get results on the pitch,\u201d defender Tristan Blackmon said after the Whitecaps beat the Rapids 3-1. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have that much of an influence on what goes on big picture in terms of where the team goes, if it stays. All we can do as players is put on good performances like we did tonight. The most we can do as players is try to represent the community and everybody who comes out here really well. So we\u2019re going to keep on trying to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The province has offered the Whitecaps financial concessions at B.C. Place, but has ruled out buying the team.<\/p>\n
Following his meeting with Garber, Eby told reporters the province would not transfer control of the provincially owned stadium to the Whitecaps to stabilize the club\u2019s finances, and added that the team has shown no interest in that option.<\/p>\n
The premier said he planned to meet with the MLS commissioner again.<\/p>\n
\u2014 With files from Wolfgang Depner in Victoria. <\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gustavson, 30, is the grandson of Public Storage co-founder B. Wayne Hughes and the son of billionaire Tamara…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[879,49,48,2467,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,2465,2466,82,55],"class_list":["post-639342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-breaking-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-central-vancouver-island","tag-nanaimo","tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","tag-nanaimo-news","tag-nanaimo-news-now","tag-nanaimonewsnow","tag-news","tag-oceanside","tag-parksville","tag-qualicum","tag-sports","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639342","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=639342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}