B.C. minister says local group plans to bid for Vancouver Whitecaps

British Columbia Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon says the provincial government has been approached by a local group that wants to buy the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The potential B.C.-based bid for the Major League Soccer team comes after the announcement of a formal offer by a U.S. group to buy and relocate the team to Las Vegas last week.

“We just had a group that’s reached out to us that has been organizing apparently for a few weeks to put a bid in for the Whitecaps,” Kahlon told reporters in Victoria on Wednesday.

He said the group was doing “due diligence” and he understood that it would share more information soon about a bid that is “grounded in a plan” to keep the team in Vancouver.

“They do seem serious,” Kahlon said. “And if the team is for sale and a local group wants to perhaps move in, I think that is a positive development for Whitecaps fans and of course for the province.”

The club has been up for sale since 2024, with ownership citing ongoing challenges tied to stadium control and revenue at its home stadium, B.C. Place, which is owned and operated by the province.

Asked for comment on the local bid Wednesday, the Whitecaps referred to a statement issued last week when reports emerged about the team’s potential move to Las Vegas.

“Over the past 16 months, we have had serious conversations with more than 100 parties, and to date, no viable offer has emerged that would keep the club here,” the statement read.

“It remains the strong preference of this ownership group to find a solution in Vancouver. If there is a local ownership group with the vision and resources to chart a path forward, we urge them to come forward.”

Kahlon, who is a longtime Whitecaps fan and season-ticket holder, said the group had contacted his office but wasn’t seeking any help from the province.

The minister added that he does not have a time frame for when the local bidders will go public.

“I would say sooner would be better, because there’s a lot of anxiety amongst Whitecaps fans that they want to see a local proponent come forward,” he said.

“I can’t speak to the proponents that are bidding for this process other than say that they seem very interested and they understand how important the club is for the province.”

Kahlon’s announcement came hours after Whitecaps CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster spoke with reporters, saying there’s no simple solution to keeping the team in Vancouver.

“I understand the concerns, and I am concerned,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that I’m not also hopeful that we will find the solution, but I’m concerned.”

Since the club went on the market, more than 30 potential buyers have looked at its books. Each group determined they’re not interested in operating the team in Vancouver under the current model, Schuster said.

That made the club realize changes need to be made in order to find a “successor” to the current ownership group.

“We need a significant improvement in all categories that generate revenue to us or that are costing us money right now,” Schuster said. “We are open for all variants of options, of solutions, from A, B, C, D, all the way to X and Y. And we don’t want to look at Z. Everyone knows what that means. And that is now more real because there is a Z solution.”

Those “significant improvements” include getting more revenue through everything from tickets and parking fees to food and beverage sales and sponsorship of the stadium. They also include more commercial sponsorship and finding cost efficiencies within the club.

“We need more in all of these categories,” Schuster said. “The more we can solve and the more we can get from each of these pockets, the more we are getting closer to a solution.”

MLS continues to work to find a solution to keep the Whitecaps in Vancouver, Schuster added, and league executives will return to the city next week for further meetings.

Commissioner Don Garber was in Vancouver for the 76th FIFA Congress last week and met with B.C. premier David Eby, Vancouver mayor Ken Sim, B.C.’s deputy minister of tourism Silas Brownsey and Rehana Din, president of PavCo, the provincial Crown corporation that owns and operates B.C. Place.

“Those conversations were constructive, and we appreciate the time and engagement from local leadership,” Dan Courtemanche said in a statement. “MLS and club representatives will continue discussions in the days ahead, and league leadership plans to return to Vancouver in the coming weeks for additional meetings.”

Multiple groups are believed to be exploring relocation options as MLS reviews the Whitecaps’ future.

An investor group led by billionaire businessman Grant Gustavson announced last week that it had submitted a bid to MLS to buy the Whitecaps that would include a privately financed, soccer-specific stadium in Las Vegas.

Gustavson, 30, is the grandson of Public Storage co-founder B. Wayne Hughes and the son of billionaire Tamara Gustavson, one of the company’s largest shareholders.

While Schuster said MLS has not imposed a deadline for finding a solution to keep the Whitecaps in Vancouver, he noted that outside interest has added pressure.

“It’s definitely a sign that we have to get to a solution sooner rather than the later,” the CEO said.

Talk of the team’s move comes as the Whitecaps continue to hover near the top of the league’s standings with an 8-1-1 record.

“We have lifted the whole club to a different level,” Schuster said. “I wouldn’t sit here and we wouldn’t speak about it publicly if we would not feel like we have, in certain areas, reached the ceiling. And without somebody else, other stakeholders, helping us, we are not able to get to the next step.”

A sold-out crowd of 27,589 people took in the team’s last home game on April 25, marking the 19th-straight MLS match where the ‘Caps have drawn a crowd of at least 20,000 fans.

“I believe that, and I hope that if we get everyone and everyone’s energy and everyone’s creative thinking together, that there’s still a path to a solution to make,” Schuster said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2026.

Wolfgang Depner and Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press