It appears that the future of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the city is uncertain.
In an update on Friday, Axel Schuster, CEO and sporting director of the club, said that despite good conversations with BC Place, where they play, and PavCo, which owns and operates BC Place, the future has stalled.
“From our side, it feels like there’s nothing left, the progress has come to an end,” Schuster said.
With the FIFA World Cup coming to Vancouver this year, the Whitecaps will play eight of the first nine MLS matches at home, followed by nearly three months on the road while BC Place is being used for the World Cup.
“I would say the challenges we have and we have raised, cannot be addressed in a way that is really bettering our situation in a good way,” Schuster said.
“So it was time to be transparent and to share with everyone. Where do we play these games?”
Schuster said that some cup matches, including select Canadian Championship games and the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal and final, if they advance, will be played at a different venue with fewer available seats, including for season ticket members.
The club says that these challenges will extend beyond 2026.
In December, the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Whitecaps FC signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enter an exclusive negotiation period through 2026 to explore the idea of a new stadium and entertainment district at Hastings Park.
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This MOU gave the city and the Whitecaps the chance to negotiate terms for a ground lease, a new stadium and financial terms for the team’s move to the new location.
However, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said the city would not be contributing any money for the stadium and site.
“So the MOU, it basically states that the city will enter into negotiations, so we have identified the site,” he said.
“We have entered into negotiations to get a fair market value lease. It’s really up to the Whitecaps and their partners to come up with a plan and finance that plan.”
The city said it will retain ownership of the land.
Both parties also recognize the Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s agreement to purchase the casino business currently operating on the site.
However, Schuster said it is not about getting a new stadium.
“I would love to have a new stadium. Don’t get me wrong,” he said.
“And everyone would love that. But at the end, this also then has to address our challenges that we have right now on the financial side. I mean, it doesn’t help us if you can build a new stadium and the more revenues just pay what the new stadium has cost because at the end then we are still where we are right now.”
The Vancouver Whitecaps have been for sale since December 2024.
“We have, I would say, in general, like hundreds, roughly hundred-ish outreaches,” Schuster said.
“We had like more than 30, almost 40 groups who signed an NDA and went into our data room and did a full analysis on our situation. All those groups have worked with experts and have spent dollars into doing a 360 analysis to think about, is it something that they want to invest in?”
Schuster said they have been asked and answered many questions.
“And as of now, at this moment, no one, not one single one, is interested in buying even 1 per cent of this club because all of them think that our setup here and the market and the situation we are in is not something where you can invest in and as long as (things don’t change completely).”
Schuster said that as of now, 2026 is looking to be a worse year financially than 2025.
He wanted fans and season ticket holders to know that they are not giving up on Vancouver, but almost 14 months after they first announced they are for sale, the club is no closer to a resolution for a permanent and stable home in the city.
This news comes on the same day the club announced it has signed Ecuadorian youth international forward Bruno Caicedo to the team.
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