Hundreds of diehard Vancouver Whitecaps fans made it known on Saturday that if Vancouver’s MLS franchise leaves town, it’s not due to a lack of support.
Fans rallied in front of BC Place before the home match against the Colorado Rapids.
“The Whitecaps mean everything. It means community, it means friendship. It would be devastating if it were relocated to the US,” said one fan.
Rumours about relocation have been gaining traction in recent months, with MLS officials making it clear that the Whitecaps stadium situation is untenable and the team is still up for sale.
While a memorandum of understanding was signed with the City of Vancouver in December last year that created a path towards building a new stadium, something that could help ensure the team doesn’t leave for greener pastures.
The root of the problem is that the team is only a temporary tenant at BC Place and does not own its own stadium.
The Whitecaps are playing there on a one-year deal.
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This instability is leading the team’s loudest and proudest supporters to start a campaign calling for the team to stay where it belongs.
“The Whitecaps have been around, in some form, for over 50 years,” said Kevin Clark, vice president of the Vancouver Southsiders.
“To kind of just lose that on the whim of some guy with money that wants to make more money would just be a travesty. We don’t want to be the next Grizzlies,” he added, referring to the National Basketball Association (NBA) team, the Vancouver Grizzlies, which was sold to American billionaire Bill Laurie in 2000 and relocated to Memphis.
The Southsiders are the Whitecaps most dedicated supporters, and they hope their Save the Caps campaign can prove to prospective new ownership that the culture around the team makes Vancouver a viable market.
“The Whitecaps are Vancouver, and this march is going to be our statement to that and to show to anybody watching that, looking at the Whitecaps as a potential investment for them, that this is the right place for the Whitecaps,” Clark explained.
The soccer team has regularly drawn more than 20,000 fans to home games and is at the top of the MLS standings again after losing the league’s championship last season to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
The fans are hoping their support will make it clear that the team’s home will always be in Vancouver.