MLB expansion team bid process approved by Vancouver City Council | Daily Hive

Major League Baseball expansion team bidding process approved by Vancouver City Council

Vancouver Canadians game at Nat Bailey Stadium. (Vancouver Canadians)

With expansion talks heating up, Vancouver City Council has officially greenlit the city’s pursuit of a Major League Baseball (MLB) expansion franchise.

City Council approved a member motion put forward by Mayor Ken Sim, directing City of Vancouver staff to initiate a municipally led bid process to formally seek prospective proponents interested in bringing a team to the city.

During the deliberations in tonight’s public meeting, Sim emphasized that his proposal was not coming out of “left field,” reiterating comments he has made over the past week — since the plan was first publicly announced — that it was prompted by “interested parties that are incredibly credible that want to bring a team to Vancouver.”

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“I want to assure everyone that this motion did not come out of left field. Our office has been approached by serious proponents regarding a potential bid for the MLB. We’re asking proponents to come forward, demonstrate their capacity, and outline what a partnership with the City could look like,” said Sim during the meeting, in an apparent attempt to address some of the media and public skepticism the idea has seen in the last few days.

Sim also reiterated that the league has repeatedly openly expressed its intention to add two expansion franchises before the end of the decade. MLB last expanded in the early 1990s, and the next window of opportunity may not come again for decades. A City-led and endorsed bid process would put Vancouver’s best foot forward.

Bid process needed after the City received an unsolicited proposal

Vancouver city manager Donny van Dyk also explained that, because the proposal from the credible party was unsolicited, it is best legal practice for the City to initiate a formal procurement process.

“Unsolicited bids or proposals to Council members or to the Mayor is not unusual. It is best practice often when things may require significant City future resources in terms of acting as part of a proposal, a bid committee to in fact, open up a process just to ensure that staff are meeting with credible individuals, that they’re meeting with the right individuals,” said van Dyk.

“And that’s not in any relation to any of the work that may have to be done by the proposed proponent on siting a stadium or the like. So that this is in fact, I would suggest, following best practice to go to an open and transparent process in receipt of a credible unsolicited [proposal].”

The identity of this proponent has not been made public; Sim noted that they will be formally daylighted after the bidding process, which also provides fair opportunities for other parties to make their own proposal.

After hearing from more than a handful of public speakers, and after some discussion, the motion was approved in an 8-1 vote, with Sim and his ABC city councillors voting in support, as well as OneCity city councillor Lucy Maloney and Yes Vancouver city councillor Rebecca Bligh. Only Sean Orr of the COPE party voted against supporting the pitch.

Bligh likened the secretive Vancouver MLB proponent to the City’s previous and ongoing efforts and process to support CIRQL Ferries (formerly Greenline Ferries), which has plans to launch a new passenger ferry service from downtown Vancouver. She noted that the ferry company had upfront capital and was ready to invest, but needed assurance that City Council was an open and enthusiastic partner. They are now aiming to launch the ferry service to Bowen Island and the Sunshine Coast in 2028.

She also hinted that she is aware of the MLB proponent referenced by the mayor.

“I think that this actually presents a similar opportunity to grow our city where tourism centred city to grow our economy in terms of hospitality, hotel, creates jobs and it’s a sport that is incredibly popular, growing in popularity. And I know that we’ve heard actually, I would say probably over the last two years that Vancouver has been on the radar for proponents wanting to bring an MLB team to Vancouver. I certainly heard about it as well. So I’m actually quite supportive of this,” said Bligh, asserting a multi-partisan approach by Vancouver’s elected officials is needed to “get this done.”

“I really think that the heroes on this issue are going to be those who can work together,” she said.

This will be a private sector investment; no public funding, says mayor

If successful, this will certainly be a multibillion dollar effort, given the league’s hefty expansion fee and the cost of securing a modern MLB stadium — most likely, constructing a brand-new, baseball-specific stadium with a fixed or retractable roof.

When asked during the deliberations, the mayor said the intent is to ensure no public funding is used for any costs associated with bringing a team to the city or building a stadium, emphasizing that the project would be privately funded.

However, when pressed, Sim did not rule out the use of City-owned lands to build a stadium.

As outlined in the approved motion, City Council has now effectively formally declared its support for bringing an MLB expansion franchise to Vancouver, and directed City staff to initiate the competitive Expression of Interest (EOI) bidding process.

Interested parties will be required to demonstrate financial capacity, relevant experience, and a feasible ownership and governance model, in addition to proposing the terms of their relationship with the City.

Then, within 60 days of initiating the process, City staff will return to City Council with recommendations, including a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) outlining a potential partnership framework for an MLB team in Vancouver. Similarly, in December 2025, the municipal government and Vancouver Whitecaps FC of the MLS reached their own MOU to explore a long-term lease and the redevelopment of Hastings Racecourse into a soccer-specific stadium and entertainment district, with the deadline for reaching an agreement set for the end of 2026.

“We’re asking our team members to bring that information back to Council so we can make informed decisions. This is about doing our due diligence on a generational opportunity, one that could bring economic activity, civic pride, and another world-class amenity to our city,” said the mayor.

“By supporting this motion, we’re waving the flag and telling Major League Baseball that Vancouver wants a team.”

“Every generation or so, Vancouver gets one of those moments.”

MLB teams play 81 home games each regular season, and the typical stadium capacity in the league currently stands at between roughly 35,000 and 45,000 seats. Currently, the league has an average attendance of just over 29,000 per game.

Nearly all of the public speakers spoke in favour of the City-led efforts to bring MLB to Vancouver, with the speakers echoing the mayor’s comments on major economic, tourism, and civic pride benefits, in addition to sharing their love for the sport.

“I know Vancouver just has spectacular summers and we are always clamouring here for summer events to bring people out. And I can’t imagine what a boon it would be to the city economically to see millions of people over the course of a summer, frequent a hopeful baseball stadium we could put here… what kind of boon that would do for our economy here,” said speaker Adam Fowley.

Ryan Chambers, who leads a transportation firm, said his business regularly entertains staff and clients with tickets to the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, and that he would do the same for MLB — an experience he described as “much better than any other professional sport.”

Chambers suggested some critics are too quick to dismiss the idea, focusing on the obstacles rather than possibilities.

“Oftentimes when people hear things like this, large things, they can get negative and say things like, ‘Well, it’ll never happen,’ or “We’ll never get the support,’ or ‘There won’t be enough money,’ or ‘We’re not the city for it.’ And I just say, you know, ‘Why not us?’ Again, Vancouver is a world-class city, and I’m certain it’ll be embraced by the entire province,” said Chambers.

“I mean, to be perfectly honest, with all due respect to the great Blue Jays, I’m getting pretty tired of cheering for a team from Toronto,” he continued.

Local business leader Steve Davis told City Council that landing an MLB team in Vancouver would be the biggest civic and economic milestone since Expo ’86 World’s Fair and the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, with the key difference being that MLB would be a permanent fixture of the city’s urban, business, and cultural fabric.

He added that each generation of Vancouverites has its defining moment — and that this MLB proposal would be it.

“This city has been here before, and we know what it looks like when Vancouver is bold and decides to reach. In 1986, Vancouver didn’t just host the World’s Fair. It repositioned our city on the global map, catalyzed entire new neighbourhoods, drew investment and imagination from around the world, and fundamentally changed what Vancouverites believed was possible. The city that emerged from Expo ’86 was a different city, more confident, more ambitious. And I was one of the children who ran through those gates believing this place could do anything,” said Davis.

“Then came 2010. The Olympics showed the world who Vancouver truly is. But beyond the Games, the legacy was lasting in infrastructure, in civic pride, and in the story we told ourselves about the kind of city we could be. Every generation or so, Vancouver gets one of those moments. Major League Baseball is our next moment, not for two weeks every four years, but for 81 home games every season, building something permanent in the fabric of this city.”

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