Latest news with #VancouverWhitecaps'
Vancouver Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Whitecaps' owners change course from 'sale' to looking for a 'new partner'
If you thought that the Vancouver Whitecaps' ownership group was looking to get out completely … well you're wrong. In the months since owners Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett and Steve Nash declared the club was for sale, everyone around the team was operating under the assumption that someone, from somewhere, would take over as owners, that the hands of financial control would be new ones. That is no longer is the case, Mallett acknowledged to Postmedia Thursday morning, following a boisterous introductory press conference for Thomas Müller. Stay on top of the latest real estate news and home design trends. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Westcoast Homes will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. It's not often that exiting owners underwrite major investments. And yet the Caps' quartet has done just that in signing Müller, the biggest international signing this club has made since the 1979 addition of Alan Ball. It's a major investment in the club's playing fortunes, and a sign, Mallett admitted, of how he and his partners are looking at their future as owners has changed. 'We need a partner,' he answered flatly to a question about what the Muller signing means for the ownership search. 'We are willing to stay and bring the knowledge base we have.' He noted that this is different from how things were presented last December. Then it was, 'We're looking to sell.' But things have shifted, Mallett said. Now there's a prospect for a new stadium and talks with the city about taking on the land at the PNE where the current Hastings Racecourse stands. Having their own stadium, away from the current lease at B.C. Place , would change their ability to compete in the long term in what Mallett termed 'MLS 3.0.' But that's where a new investor comes in. Kerfoot, Luczo, Mallett and Nash need help with building a stadium and funding the future of the club. 'The stadium being a possibility changed the dynamic of the offering in the market,' he said. At the same time, lead investors Kerfoot and Luczo are looking to reduce the financial burden of ownership. 'They are looking to lessen their load,' Mallett explained. His own stake, and Nash's, has always been much smaller. And their ownership future was inevitably a question that came up during contract talks with Müller, and what they told Müller about the situation caused no concern for him. 'He liked what he saw,' Kerfoot said. And so their search continues. They've had a number of intriguing enquiries, Kerfoot admitted. Some have even had hands-on tours of the Whitecaps' facilities. But if a sale is imminent, Kerfoot wouldn't say. We remain in the proverbial 'watch this space' era. pjohnston@
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Newly minted Whitecaps star Thomas Muller arrives in Vancouver
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps' newest star has landed, with Thomas Muller arriving in Vancouver. Muller landed at the Vancouver International Airport Wednesday evening, a week after the Major League Soccer club announced it had signed the 35-year-old German attacking midfielder. He comes to Vancouver following 17 years with Bayern Munich where he helped the German Bundesliga side to 13 league championships and 33 total titles. Soccer fans lined up at arrivals waving flags and cheering as Muller walked through sliding doors after clearing customs. He then joined fans at an airport restaurant to watch the 'Caps take on Canadian Premier League club Forge FC in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semifinals. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Muller has signed with the Whitecaps for the remainder of the 2025 season with a Designated Player option for 2026. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2025.
Vancouver Sun
24-07-2025
- Sport
- Vancouver Sun
MLS says B.C. Place 'unsustainable' for Whitecaps
'We get 17 days where we can play our games, and that's it.' Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber laid it all out, again, that the Vancouver Whitecaps' stadium situation at B.C. Place , as currently set up, is untenable. They need a new arrangement, he said Wednesday at the MLS All-Star Game in Texas. Think about last fall, when the Whitecaps had to play a home playoff game not at home because B.C. Place was pre-booked for a massive motocross show . In speaking with reporters, Garber told Vancouver-based freelance soccer reporter Har Johal that he'd received some updates from the team in recent days. Pressed by Johal, Garber was unequivocal. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'The update is we've got to get a new stadium situation for the Whitecaps,' he said. 'We have no plans to move the Vancouver Whitecaps,' he added. 'But right now they don't have a viable stadium situation.' Cue the ominous music, though Garber did seem to want to temper speculation some by also saying: 'Not our first rodeo. We'll figure that out. We'll be able to get the stadium, I hope, and we're working hard at it.' Hence the conversations the team has had with the City of Vancouver about redeveloping land at the PNE where Hastings Racecourse currently sits. But such a transaction wouldn't be straightforward: the land in question is managed by the city as part of a trust from the province and legislation around the trust grants the city power to manage the park in line with its long-standing uses. Would switching the racecourse property over to a sports stadium fit with its long-standing uses? There's long been a movement to make the park more like a park , especially if amenities currently extant in the park were to close. In other words, if the racetrack is going to close, that land should become green. The horse-racing lease is up next May. Most assume its days are done. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation have signed a deal to take over the connected casino licence, but not the horse-racing operations. They have acknowledged that they want a seat at the table should the Whitecaps talks about moving in get serious. But it's also not clear there can be a casino without a horse-racing operation. The folks that run the actual horses at the track insist the licences are tied together, that they can't legally be separated. It's also been understood that a new stadium, purpose-built for soccer, would aid the Whitecaps in their pursuit of new ownership. Last December the team announced that the current ownership group, led by Greg Kerfoot, was putting the team up for sale and had hired Goldman Sachs to aid in their search for new investors. But other than a few whispers a few months ago about conversations with local Indigenous groups, the news around a sale remains very quiet. More to come … pjohnston@
Toronto Star
07-06-2025
- Health
- Toronto Star
3 Canadian national team players among the Whitecaps stricken by illness
Three Canadian national team players were among those who fell ill following the Vancouver Whitecaps' appearance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final last weekend in Mexico City. The Whitecaps said a 'significant number' of players and staff had a gastrointestinal illness. Three of them — Ali Ahmed, Sam Adekugbe and Jayden Nelson — were ill when they arrived at Canada's training camp in Halifax ahead of Saturday's Canadian Shield match against Ukraine, coach Jesse Marsch said Friday.
San Francisco Chronicle
06-06-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
3 Canadian national team players among the Whitecaps stricken by illness
Three Canadian national team players were among those who fell ill following the Vancouver Whitecaps' appearance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final last weekend in Mexico City. The Whitecaps said a "significant number" of players and staff had a gastrointestinal illness. Three of them — Ali Ahmed, Sam Adekugbe and Jayden Nelson — were ill when they arrived at Canada's training camp in Halifax ahead of Saturday's Canadian Shield match against Ukraine, coach Jesse Marsch said Friday. 'They're better now,' Marsch said. 'They're probably not ready for 90-minute performances." The trio practiced with the national team Friday in preparation for the match at Toronto's BMO Field. Canada also plays Ivory Coast on Tuesday as it readies for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Marsch, who said it was his understanding that the players had food poisoning, questioned how it could happen two years in a row. Last year, Columbus Crew players fell ill while playing in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final in Mexico against Pachuca. "If I were the Vancouver Whitecaps, if I was the Columbus Crew, if I was MLS, I would be angry. I would be absolutely angry that this had been allowed to happen,' he said. The Whitecaps were forced to cancel practice Wednesday and had a modified session for cleared players Thursday after both players and staff reported the gastrointestinal symptoms. It appeared many players had returned Friday. 'The health and well-being of our players and staff remain a top priority. Each player has been provided with an individualized program by the medical and performance staff to support their continued preparation and recovery,' the Whitecaps said in a statement. Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster told reporters that about half of the 75 people who returned to Canada via charter following the game reported symptoms. The Whitecaps lost 5-0 to Liga MX team Cruz Azul in the tournament's championship game Sunday night in Mexico City. The Whitecaps were scheduled to play the Seattle Sounders in a Cascadia Cup rivalry match at BC Place on Sunday. Nine players were already going to be missing because of national team duty, including Ahmed, Adekugbe and Nelson. Schuster said the Whitecaps have been in contact with the league about whether the team would have enough players for the game. "If we have enough healthy and fit players available, we want to play it, of course,' Schuster said. 'No one ever wants not to play a game if he thinks he has a group together that is ready to compete in this game.' ___
