The Whitecaps and Vancouver agree to explore new stadium in hopes of fending off possible move

By Canadian Press on December 11, 2025.

The city of Vancouver and Major League Soccer’s Whitecaps have agreed to pursue plans for a new stadium, which could help prevent a move out of the city if the team is sold.

Under a memorandum of understanding announced Thursday, the city and the team will exclusively negotiate the terms for development of a stadium and entertainment district in the Hastings Park area over the next year.

The agreement comes as the Whitecaps’ lease with BC Place expires at the end of this year and the team seeks a new lease with more favorable terms. The Whitecaps have also been up for sale for the past year, with no guarantee that a new buyer would keep the team in Vancouver.

Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster said the MOU was a first step in making sure the team stays. Other details, including the cost of the stadium and who would pay for it, were not part of the agreement.

“When we announced one year ago that this club is up for sale, I told everyone, this is not an end, this is a beginning. A beginning of something new, that we want to develop something new,” Schuster said. “We want to build the future of the club in Vancouver.”

Ahead of the Whitecaps’ loss to Inter Miami in the MLS title match earlier this month, MLS Commissioner Don Garber was critical over a lack of progress in both plans for a new stadium and securing a favorable lease. He suggested “tough decisions” might be made if there wasn’t movement.

“The MLS team, its owners, its fans, its players have done everything to earn the support that they’re not getting today from the city and from the province and that’s an untenable situation,” Garber said. “What we have there has to change. And right now, we’re not necessarily on a path to do that. … We had a very positive meeting with the mayor. We’re looking at getting a better lease at BC Place right now. There’s been no movement on that and it’s been a month.”

Vancouver’s owners — Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luzco, Jeff Mallett and former NBA star Steve Nash — announced last December that the club was for sale. Mallett suggested this past summer that the group’s strategy may include adding a new partner.

Mayor Ken Sim was blunt about the prospects of the team’s future in the city without a new stadium.

“Let’s just call it what it is, there’s probably absolutely no path for the Vancouver Whitecaps to remain in Vancouver without this MOU,” Sim said.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Anne M. Peterson, The Associated Press