{"id":668477,"date":"2026-05-14T07:58:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T07:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/668477\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T07:58:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T07:58:28","slug":"vancouver-business-leaders-seek-solution-to-stop-whitecaps-from-moving-bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/668477\/","title":{"rendered":"Vancouver business leaders seek solution to stop Whitecaps from moving &#8211; BC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Greater\u00a0Vancouver\u00a0Board\u00a0of\u00a0Trade has issued an open letter calling on businesses\u00a0to\u00a0help keep the\u00a0Vancouver\u00a0Whitecaps\u00a0from\u00a0moving\u00a0out\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0city.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/70c8fc80.png\" alt=\"\" style=\"position:absolute;width:1px;height:1px\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The organization says hundreds\u00a0of\u00a0businesses have signed on, pledging\u00a0to\u00a0explore sponsorships, partnerships and ticket programs aimed at addressing the Major League Soccer club\u2019s revenue challenges.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Whitecaps\u00a0have been up for sale since December 2024, and an investor group recently submitted a bid\u00a0to\u00a0MLS seeking\u00a0to\u00a0buy the club and move it\u00a0to\u00a0Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>The Las Vegas bid is led by businessman Grant Gustavson and includes plans for a privately financed soccer-specific stadium in Nevada. Gustavson is the grandson\u00a0of\u00a0Public Storage co-founder B. Wayne Hughes and the son\u00a0of\u00a0billionaire investor Tamara Gustavson.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Uncertainty for the Whitecaps future'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/WEB_MN_MARK_PANNES_MAY_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t6:11<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUncertainty for the Whitecaps future\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The club has cited revenue limitations at the provincially owned B.C. Place Stadium as a hurdle in attracting a local buyer.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor more than 50 years, the\u00a0Vancouver\u00a0Whitecaps\u00a0have been a pillar\u00a0of\u00a0our community, and the\u00a0business\u00a0community is sending a clear message: we want them\u00a0to\u00a0stay,\u201d said Bridgitte Anderson, CEO\u00a0of\u00a0the Greater\u00a0Vancouver\u00a0Board\u00a0of\u00a0Trade.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"170\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767930311_275_national.jpg\" alt=\"Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n<p>Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you&#8217;ll never miss the day&#8217;s top stories.<\/p>\n<p>Premier David Eby is scheduled\u00a0to\u00a0meet this week with representatives\u00a0from\u00a0the\u00a0Whitecaps, MLS, the\u00a0City\u00a0of\u00a0Vancouver\u00a0and local First Nations\u00a0to\u00a0discuss keeping the team in\u00a0Vancouver.<\/p>\n<p>Eby said Tuesday he does not believe a decision has already been made\u00a0to\u00a0relocate the\u00a0Whitecaps\u00a0to\u00a0Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf this is already decided, if the fix is in and it\u2019s going\u00a0to\u00a0Vegas, then just be clear with us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut if not, then this table is a reflection\u00a0of\u00a0our willingness\u00a0to\u00a0bring together those key partners\u00a0to\u00a0be creative and\u00a0to\u00a0find that\u00a0solution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>B.C. Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon said last week that a local ownership group had approached the province about a possible bid for the club and appeared serious about keeping the team in\u00a0Vancouver.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tFans of the Vancouver Whitecaps MLS soccer team rally to keep the team in Vancouver, outside the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver on Thursday, April 30, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Darryl Dyck.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tDD\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore on Sports<br \/>\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Whitecaps\u00a0CEO Axel Schuster has said more than 30 potential buyers have reviewed the club\u2019s books since the team was put up for sale, but none have been interested in operating the franchise in\u00a0Vancouver\u00a0under the current\u00a0business\u00a0model.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The board\u00a0of\u00a0trade says the soccer club brings hundreds\u00a0of\u00a0thousands\u00a0of\u00a0fans downtown each season and generates tens\u00a0of\u00a0millions\u00a0of\u00a0dollars in economic activity for local businesses, supporting the hospitality, retail and tourism sectors.<\/p>\n<p>The uncertainty around the\u00a0Whitecaps\u00a0comes weeks before\u00a0Vancouver\u00a0is set\u00a0to\u00a0host seven FIFA World Cup matches at B.C. Place next month.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: 'Bid to relocate Vancouver Whitecaps'\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778745508_603_2026_05_02_BID_TO_MOVE_WHITECAPS_WEB.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   data-\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t6:44<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBid to relocate Vancouver Whitecaps\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\tPrevious Video<\/p>\n<p>\t\tNext Video<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t&amp;copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Greater\u00a0Vancouver\u00a0Board\u00a0of\u00a0Trade has issued an open letter calling on businesses\u00a0to\u00a0help keep the\u00a0Vancouver\u00a0Whitecaps\u00a0from\u00a0moving\u00a0out\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0city. The organization says hundreds\u00a0of\u00a0businesses have signed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[32882,49,48,573,82,55,25424],"class_list":["post-668477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-bc-place","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mls","tag-sports","tag-vancouver","tag-vancouver-whitecaps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668477","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=668477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}