Historic MLS Club Outlines Ambitious Stadium Plans As Relocation Threat Looms

Laying the groundwork for a new stadium and avoiding relocation is underway.

BC Place is no longer a suitable home for Vancouver Whitecaps FC. / Rich Lam/Getty Images

Fresh off qualifying for their first MLS Cup, Vancouver Whitecaps FC have more reason for optimism as plans to ensure the club do not need to relocate begin to take shape.

Together with the City of Vancouver, the Whitecaps announced that they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a one-year exclusive negotiating window to explore a new stadium and entertainment district at Hastings Park, on the edge of the city. 

It marks a significant, yet small step towards solving the Whitecaps’ stadium issues, which, if left unsolved, would likely see the 52-year-old club leave Canada’s West Coast.

Before the club’s loss to Inter Miami in MLS Cup, which Vancouver mayor Ken Sim attended with supporters, MLS Commissioner Don Garber spoke of the club’s need for a new stadium, suggesting that “tough decisions” could come if the “untenable” lease situation at their current home, BC Place, continued. 

---

What’s Wrong with the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place? 

BC Place is located in the heart of Downtown Vancouver. / Elizabeth Ruiz Ruiz/Getty Images

The Whitecaps’ lease at BC Place expires at the end of 2025 and will need to be reworked for 2026 and potentially beyond. 

The club lease BC Place from PAVCO, a Crown Corporation operating at arms-length from the British Columbia Provincial Government, and benefit minimally from gameday revenues at a significantly lower rate than other MLS clubs. 

Any new stadium would take at least three years from the announcement. The hope remains that the Whitecaps could continue playing at BC Place during that time. Yet the club still needs a new, reworked lease for 2026 and beyond and remains in discussions about improving its deal. 

“The City of Vancouver, we’ve done our part. We’ve been very clear that we’ll do whatever is possible to make sure that the Whitecaps have a future in the City of Vancouver… It’s probably going to take four-plus years. And so, where do the Whitecaps play during that time? It should be at BC Place,” Sim said. 

“When you look at the economics of BC Place… We’re asking the provincial government to step up, get a deal done with the Vancouver Whitecaps and look at the long term… the economics just don’t work.”

A season full of moments we’ll never forget. 🥹

From record crowds to record goals, BC Place was buzzing all year long. Thank you to our incredible fans and to our venue partner, @BCPlace, for helping us make history together. 💙#VWFC pic.twitter.com/quKG5H6tQZ

— X - Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) December 11, 2025

The 54,000-seat venue that will host World Cup matches is in the heart of Downtown Vancouver, while Hastings Park is not on a rapid transit line and is on the edge of the city, next to the Pacific Coliseum, where the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Vancouver Goldeneyes recently moved into. 

Hastings Park featured horse racing for over a century, but announced that it would halt operations on Friday, the eve of MLS Cup. The Whitecaps' former stadium, Empire Field, used to lie next to Hastings Park. 

---

Are the Whitecaps Still for Sale?

Axel Schuster (right) is leading the Whitecaps' search for a new stadium after signing Thomas Müller (left) in August. / Shea MacNeil/Vancouver Whitecaps FC/MLS/Getty Images

Axel Schuster, the Whitecaps’ sporting director and CEO, and Sim both confirmed that the Whitecaps remain for sale. The club was initially listed by current ownership on Dec. 13, 2024. 

The cooperation with the city on a stadium project and potential collaboration with the local Indigenous Nation, the Tsleil-Waututh, and other partners, is an effort to keep the club in the city. 

“There are interested parties that would like to buy the Whitecaps and there are some interested parties who want to take the Whitecaps out of the City of Vancouver,” Sim said. “If there’s no opportunity to have your own stadium… there is no viable option for anyone who wants to keep the Whitecaps in the City of Vancouver.

“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.”

---

Whitecaps Would Not Own New Stadium’s Property

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim (left) insisted that the City would remain the land owner on which a new Whitecaps stadium would sit. / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Any new stadium would come with a surrounding entertainment district and be built on the PWHL and the PNE Amphitheater, which will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup FanFest. 

However, the land on which it is built at Hastings Park would not be owned by the Whitecaps. Instead, it would remain municipal land and be leased to the MLS club at “a fair market value lease while ensuring no undue financial risk to the taxpayer,” according to Sim. 

According to a Sports Illustrated review of the entire published MOU, the lease would be a 99-year lease of the site with the club taking possession no earlier than Dec. 31, 2026.

---

How Big Would a New Whitecaps Stadium Be?

A rendered image of the future Miami Freedom Park, the newest MLS stadium set to open in 2026. / Inter Miami

The Whitecaps did not confirm the size of the stadium they would consider, but most new MLS stadiums, including Inter Miami’s Miami Freedom Park, set to open in 2026, range from 20,000 to 30,000 fans.

Schuster confirmed that the Whitecaps would also include the local professional women’s team, the Vancouver Rise, in the plans, given that the two teams share a common owner. Other potential partners, such as the Canadian Football League’s BC Lions, who also play at BC Place, remained unconfirmed. 

“It’s really up to the Whitecaps and if they have future partners to come up with a plan that makes sense,” Sim said. “And then they’ll present that to council and there’ll be a lot of opportunities to go through a public hearing and make sure it works in the context of our city and the region.”

---

Cost and Timeline

The Vancouver Whitecaps opened their MLS era in 2011 at a temporary venue, Empire Field, near their proposed new stadium. / Anne-Marie Sorvin-Imagn Images

No fixed timeline was given and questions remain about who will pay for the construction of the potential stadium and the entertainment district. BC Place took on taxpayer funds to build, but Sim suggested that is not a possibility at a municipal level.

“It's really up to the Whitecaps and their partners to come up with a plan and finance that plan,” he said. 

Schuster added that the team is entering the MOU with the understanding that the need to lay the groundwork extends not only to current ownership, who could stay on in some capacity, but also to potential new owners looking to keep the club in the city.  

“If a new investor comes in and a potential new buyer who wants to keep the club here... they obviously look into the setup of the club,” he said. “We are working on right now to find a better setup for the club that gives us the basis and the setup that can keep the club here in Vancouver and can make it successful.”

The Whitecaps are set to open the 2026 MLS season on Feb. 21 against Real Salt Lake, with the match scheduled for BC Place. 

---

READ THE LATEST MLS NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND GOSSIP

feed