Billionaire makes formal bid to relocate Vancouver Whitecaps to Las Vegas

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Grant Gustavson has submitted an offer to MLS on behalf of an investment group, spokesperson confirms.

A formal offer has been submitted to purchase and relocate the Vancouver Whitecaps, the city’s Major League Soccer team, to Las Vegas.

A spokesperson for billionaire Grant Gustavson confirmed to CBC News he is fronting an investment group’s bid for the team, as first reported by The Athletic. (new window)

The team, which is up for sale, has claimed for over a year that it faces significant revenue challenges in Vancouver despite success on the pitch.

In particular, the Whitecaps say that their current stadium — B.C. Place in downtown Vancouver — does not allow it to generate enough revenue. The stadium is owned by the province, through the Crown corporation PavCo.

The Whitecaps relocating from Vancouver would leave a ‘devastating hole’

April 28|Duration2:00Major League Soccer is exploring relocating the Vancouver Whitecaps, reports The Athletic. Carrie Serwetnyk, a former women’s national team player and founder of Free Kick FC children and youth soccer programs, told BC Today host Michelle Eliot that the Whitecaps have inspired a generation of fans, and impacted youth players in the community.

Jacqueline Peterson, a spokesperson for Gustavson’s group, said in a statement that the investors would privately finance the endeavor, and that details of the proposal won’t be shared while the league deliberates the offer.

This bid is an offer to acquire and bring the team to Las Vegas, she said in an email.

Responding Thursday to reports of the bid, B.C. Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon said the province hadn’t seen the Las Vegas proposal — and that officials met with MLS commissioner Don Garber on Wednesday as relocation talks heat up.

It was a a good exchange. We asked the commissioner to play a role to bring parties together … so that we can have the same goal, which is to keep the Whitecaps here in Vancouver, Kahlon told reporters.

I’m hoping that that meeting and that dialogue from that meeting was genuine, he added. And if they have already made a decision to move the team, I’d rather they just tell us.

CBC News has reached out to the Whitecaps and MLS for this story, but did not immediately hear back.

Revenue issues

The Whitecaps issued a statement earlier this week (new window) saying stadium economics, venue access and revenue limitations have made it difficult to attract buyers committed to keeping the team in Vancouver.

In December 2024, the club was put up for sale by its current ownership group — which includes Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett and former NBA star Steve Nash — with an asking price not disclosed.

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April 29|Duration2:04Vancouver Whitecaps fans are rallying to save their team after a recent report suggested Major League Soccer is considering relocating it to Las Vegas. The Whitecaps are hugely popular at home, but the club is losing money — and its lease at B.C. Place stadium after this season.

While the ownership group said at the time that the priority was to keep the club in Vancouver, the team has made no secret of its discontent over stadium revenues in particular.

Over 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, the statement read.

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The Whitecaps currently sit second in the MLS standings, with an 8-1-0 record, and made the finals of both the MLS Cup and the CONCACAF Champions Cup last year.

But despite the on-pitch success, the club says it is among the lowest earners in MLS — largely because it is unable to generate much revenue out of B.C. Place, which is also home to the Canadian Football League’s B.C. Lions, and plays host to a number of other events.

The province and the team signed a one-year lease earlier this year, which annually returns to the club up to as much as $1.5 million that the province makes from hosting the games.

Kahlon, a longtime Whitecaps season ticket holder, had said earlier in the week that the deal put the team in a much better place financially.

Las Vegas can easily have a team with an expansion, but the commitment that Whitecaps fans have made to this team through really tough years, I think it needs to be recognized by the league, he said Thursday.

Fans vocal over relocation

Outside the FIFA Congress (new window) — which is being held at Vancouver’s Canada Place — supporters said Thursday that losing the club would be ruinous to the city as a whole.

We’re here today to just demonstrate to all the delegates from FIFA that Vancouver is a soccer city, that we deserve to have the Vancouver Whitecaps stay in town, said Kevin Clark, vice-president of the Vancouver Southsiders fan group.

We don’t want to lose our ‘Caps, because we love them and they’re an institution in this town and this province.

Save The Caps campaign aims to prevent the potential move of Vancouver’s MLS team

With the Vancouver Whitecaps for sale and rumours swirling about a buyer snapping up the MLS club and possibly moving it to a more profitable U.S. city, the club’s longest running supporters group — the Vancouver Southsiders — want it shouted from the rooftops that they are not OK with the team leaving. As the CBC’s Janella Hamilton reports, the Save The Caps campaign wants fans’ voices to be heard amid any deal-making.

Late last year, the City of Vancouver signed a memorandum of understanding (new window) with the Whitecaps that could see the team build its own stadium and entertainment district in Hastings Park.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said the city had done all it could to try and keep the team.

At the end of the day, the economics have to work for whoever the future owner is … we know the market can support the team, he said Thursday.

Akshay Kulkarni · CBC News with files from Laurence Watt and The Canadian Press