Major League Soccer evaluating all options for Vancouver Whitecaps: spokesman - BERITAJA

A spokesperson for Major League Soccer says the statement “will measure each options” erstwhile it comes to the early of the Whitecaps — including keeping the squad successful Vancouver and moving it to different market.

“We stay focused connected supporting the nine successful identifying a sustainable semipermanent solution, and our penchant is to find a way that allows the Whitecaps to proceed to turn and win successful Vancouver,” Dan Courtemanche said successful a connection Monday night.

“At the aforesaid time, we person a work to guarantee the semipermanent wellness of the convention and its clubs, and we will measure each options, including liking that has been expressed successful the nine from different markets and investor groups.”

The comments travel aft The Athletic published a communicative earlier connected Monday saying the convention has told its 29 different owners it is exploring relocating the team, pinch Las Vegas being the apical campaigner for the caller market.

The study did not see a timeline for the move.

“The Whitecaps’ ownership group has played a important domiciled successful increasing the crippled successful Vancouver and crossed Canada,” Courtemanche said. “However, stadium economics, scheduling restrictions, and a deficiency of authorities and firm support person created ongoing structural challenges that make it difficult to found a viable way guardant for the club.”

The Whitecaps besides issued a connection Monday saying the nine has faced well-documented structural challenges about stadium economics, venue access, and gross limitations that person made it difficult to pull buyers committed to keeping the squad successful Vancouver.

“Over the past 16 months, we person had superior conversations pinch much than 100 parties, and to date, nary viable connection has emerged that would support the nine here,” the nine wrote.

“It remains the beardown penchant of this ownership group to find a solution successful Vancouver. If location is simply a section ownership group pinch the imagination and resources to floor plan a way forward, we impulse them to travel forward.”

Vancouver’s existent ownership group — including Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett and erstwhile NBA prima Steve Nash — announced the squad was up for waste successful December 2024 and many times said the privilege was keeping the Whitecaps successful Vancouver. The asking value was not publically released.

MLS’s latest description club, San Diego FC — which began play past play — reportedly paid a US$500 cardinal interest to subordinate the league.

Toronto paid a $10 cardinal description interest erstwhile it became portion of the convention successful 2007. Vancouver reportedly paid $40 cardinal to subordinate 4 years later.

Las Vegas is presently location to the Las Vegas Lights, a USL Championship squad owned by erstwhile Toronto Blue Jay Jose Bautista.

The Athletic’s study comes days aft thousands of Whitecaps fans utilized signs and chants to definitive their support for the club.

A sold-out crowd of 27,589 group watched the ‘Caps down the Colorado Rapids 3-1 connected Saturday, packing B.C. Place for Vancouver’s last location crippled up of this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

Hundreds of group marched to the stadium down a elephantine banner reference “Save the Caps.”

Once inside, much than 2,000 fans held signs pinch the aforesaid “Save the Caps” connection arsenic players walked retired onto the field.

The insubstantial signs were placed by Vancouver’s supporters groups earlier the game.

Others brought their ain ocular messages of support, including a elephantine banner reference “We will conflict for our nine and we will win” adjacent to an image of a fist.

Chants of “Save the Caps!” besides rang retired done the stadium aft Ema Lake sang the American and Canadian nationalist anthems.

“We perceive what’s going on, but astatine the extremity of the day, that’s not successful our control,” striker Brian White said aft the game. “We emotion playing successful Vancouver, we emotion the fans. But each that worldly is up to powers that are retired of our control.”

The players are each focused connected winning, not what’s happening down the scenes, said defender Tristan Blackmon.

“We’ve known for a small while now that the squad is up for sale. But our occupation astatine the extremity of the time is to get results connected the pitch,” he said. “We don’t person that overmuch of an power connected what goes connected large image successful position of wherever the squad goes, if it stays. All we could do arsenic players is put connected bully performances for illustration we did tonight.

“The about we could do arsenic players is effort to correspond the organization and everybody who comes retired present really well. So we’re going to support connected trying to do that.”

The ‘Caps presently beryllium 2nd successful the MLS standings pinch an 8-1-0 grounds and are coming disconnected their about successful play successful the league.

Last year, Vancouver was crowned Western Conference champions earlier falling to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami successful the title game.

Despite the on-field success, the Whitecaps still sat astatine the bottommost of the convention successful squad revenue, trailing clubs successful the mediate of the standings by US$40 million, CEO Axel Schuster said successful February.

“We are really concerned that, aft specified a successful season, the spread is moreover becoming bigger, that this astatine immoderate constituent will not beryllium manageable for america anymore,” he said.

Schuster and MLS commissioner Don Garber said precocious past twelvemonth that the club’s lease at B.C. Place Stadium was not sustainable because of constricted scheduling elasticity and restricted gross from nutrient and beverage sales.

The squad signed a memorandum of knowing pinch the City of Vancouver successful December complete exploring the viability of building a caller stadium connected the city’s eastbound edge, past agreed to a new, one-year woody pinch the Crown corp that owns and operates B.C. Place successful February.

Schuster said astatine the clip that the caller lease did not lick the Whitecaps’ semipermanent financial viability issues.

“To beryllium clear, I deliberation it needs 25 to 30 much of these small steps, aliases it needs a fewer large steps to really get successful safe h2o and to opportunity ‘OK, now this nine gets into much of the area of financial stableness and viability,'” he said.

Originally a North American Soccer League team, the Whitecaps person been portion of Vancouver’s sports cloth since 1974.

The nine won the NASL title successful 1979 and, erstwhile players returned to Vancouver, about 100,000 group lined Robson Street to cheer them on.

Kerfoot, a Vancouver entrepreneur, bought the nine successful 2002 erstwhile it was a USL First Division team, and was joined by the remainder of the ownership group successful 2008 pinch the volition of making the ‘Caps an MLS team.

The Whitecaps played their first crippled successful the caller convention successful March 2011.

The nine has knowledgeable a bid of highs and lows since.

Some salient Canadian nationalist players person travel up done the ‘Caps academy strategy during the existent ownership group’s tenure.

Star left-back Alphonso Davies joined the residency programme arsenic a teen and collapsed done successful MLS successful 2016 astatine property 15 earlier the Whitecaps transferred him to German powerhouse Bayern Munich successful 2018.

The Whitecaps weathered a ungraded successful 2019 erstwhile allegations emerged that a erstwhile coach pinch some the women’s nine squad and Canada’s under-20 women’s programme had assaulted aggregate players. Bob Birarda was handed a two-year condemnation successful November 2022 aft he pled blameworthy to 3 counts of intersexual battle and 1 count of intersexual rubbing involving 4 teens.

FIFA vice president Victor Montagliani has said moving the Whitecaps would beryllium “a bruise” connected the city, particularly arsenic Vancouver prepares to big 7 World Cup games this summer.

“To suffer an MLS nine connected the backmost of the World Cup would beryllium a superior crime, successful my opinion,” he said astatine a Vancouver Board of Trade arena past June.