Business leaders, First Nations, government rally to save the Whitecaps

First Nations chiefs, PavCo, and all levels of government have joined forces with what they are referring to as “private partners” to find ways to keep the Vancouver Whitecaps in the city.

In a joint statement issued Thursday, the group says all members are working together to “deliver an even better future” for the team.

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“That includes improving the game day economic model at BC Place, exploring additional sponsorship opportunities, and advancing work on potential sites for a new stadium and development,” the statement says.

“Let’s be clear: Vancouver is open for business. We are doing everything we can to keep the Whitecaps here, and we are committed to building a long-term solution that reflects the scale, ambition, and global future of this city.”

The statement doesn’t identify the private partners.

BC Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth Ravi Kahlon tells 1130 NewsRadio this was the first time all levels of government, local First Nations chiefs, and business leaders got together to talk about saving the team.

The meeting was productive, he says, with some concrete ideas for all parties to work on.

“The one thing we can’t control is the buyer situation and who will come in and buy the team,” Kahlon said.

“But what we did discuss were concrete things that we can all do to make sure that the environment is such that a potential investor could come in.”

This includes some specific ideas for new revenue opportunities for the Whitecaps in the stadium.

“We talked about securing playoff dates so that they didn’t have to worry about whether the playoff dates would be there, and we would just find ways to make sure that those would be concrete in there,” he said.

“And we talked about a whole host of other ideas around a potential investor, what they may look like, what they may want as far as a new stadium, and what are the conditions we can create for someone to come in to do that.”

The group is also going to seek out more sponsors to support the club.

Kahlon says they have heard from the MLS that they want to find a way to keep the team here.

“But they also understand that the ownership wants to sell, and we have to find an opportunity to create the environment for a potential investor to come in,” he said.

He says they are focusing on things they can control.

“There are things that we can’t control, which is who will come, who will have the deep pockets to buy the team, what they’ll want,” he said.

“We cannot control whether investors step forward, but we can control creating that environment, addressing items that have been raised around new revenue opportunities, having the business community step up and actually take on sponsorship within the club.”

Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association, says keeping the team is important for local business, with economic and cultural benefits generated by each game.

“We used to talk about the effect of a hockey game and a hockey playoff game. I think we had a number of about a million and a half dollars’ economic uptick for a hockey game,” he said.

“But as the Canucks go through their regeneration, which is going to take a while, I think the spotlight is on the Whitecaps…soccer is kind of a fun game to follow. It’s a chill game. You can sit down and have a glass of wine or beer and some nachos and just kind of follow it. So I think it really has an expansive side to it, maybe even much more so than hockey, especially when you have a team that’s doing so well and so well regarded, not just in Vancouver, but in North America.”

The group joining forces to support the team consists of the City of Vancouver, the Government of B.C., the federal government, the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations, PavCo, and unspecified private partners.

The future of Vancouver’s MLS team has been uncertain ever since a Las Vegas group led by billionaire business leader Grant Gustavson said last month it had submitted a bid to purchase the team.