It seems clear that building a new soccer-specific stadium is vitally important for the future of the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Addressing the media at the MLS All-Star Game in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, MLS Commissioner Don Garber was stern and direct as he discussed the Whitecaps’ need to find a new stadium.
“We have no plans to move the Vancouver Whitecaps, but right now, they don’t have a viable stadium situation and they need one,” Garber said in response to a question from Daily Hive. “We have a stadium that we’ll lose access to because of construction for the 2026 World Cup. We get 17 days where we can play our games, and that’s it. We don’t have any flexibility, including what happened with their playoff game last year.
“The Vancouver Whitecaps need a new stadium.”
Garber said he got a stadium update from Vancouver (0:44). @HarJournalist asked what the update was but he wouldn’t reveal it pic.twitter.com/fSDwEaFIDk
— Mike Martignago (@MikeMartignago) July 24, 2025
The Whitecaps have one of the most challenging home stadiums when it comes to scheduling games, and that’s going to become further congested and complicated ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The installation of a grass surface at BC Place will likely add to the amount of time Vancouver is away from the stadium during the 2026 MLS campaign.
Whitecaps CEO and Sporting Director Axel Schuster is in ongoing discussions with Pavco regarding a new lease agreement for the Whitecaps at BC Place. While the contract is up at the end of the year, Schuster is optimistic that a new agreement will be reached.
“I think we are in good talks,” Schuster told Daily Hive earlier this month. “Both parties really want to get a better deal done that’s better for both parties, that helps both parties do better business in the future with our games, since the old contract was very, very old.
“Things have changed since then.”
There have been conversations between the City of Vancouver regarding a potential Whitecaps stadium development on PNE grounds, but there’s still a lot of work to be done before that can become a reality.
Getting everyone involved on the same page is easier said than done, but the Whitecaps ownership group, led by Greg Kerfoot, wants to keep the team in Vancouver.
“We need to find a way to work with the city and work with the province… to find a stadium solution,” Garber added. “Not our first rodeo, and we’ll figure that out. We’ll be able to get a stadium, I hope, and we’re working hard at it.
“We got an update on it over the last couple of days, and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to achieve something to at least look at a way where we could have a place for the Vancouver Whitecaps to play and then we’ll continue to deal with what happens if they don’t have a place to play.
“But there is no plan to move the Vancouver Whitecaps.”
Sources told Daily Hive that Garber would like to visit Vancouver before the year is out to personally see the potential stadium site at the PNE.
“The city has been more engaged now than they have been in the past, and we appreciate that,” Garber said. “I think everybody recognizes the Whitecaps brand, they’ve been in the city for a long time. We’d like to find a solution.”
Whitecaps All-Star Tristan Blackmon has played in soccer stadiums across the MLS and has seen firsthand what a venue designed specifically for the beautiful game brings to a club.
“[A soccer-specific stadium] helps a lot because you can control everything in terms of football operations. When you have everything soccer-specific, you don’t have to worry about other people coming into the stadium, the field getting messed up, things like that,” Blackmon told Daily Hive at the MLS All-Star Game.
“I think that would be huge for Vancouver to get that eventually. A lot of teams in the league are doing that, and it’s starting to become the standard. We should be right up there trying to push for that as much as possible.”
Whitecaps players have pushed aside distractions this year for what has been their most successful season since entering the MLS in 2011. Not only did Vancouver make it to the final of the Concacaf Champions Cup, but the club currently sits second in the MLS Western Conference with a 12-5-6 record.
“We showed that we have a team that can compete, and we want to be in Vancouver,” Blackmon said. “That’s one of the next steps that can be taken to really show that we want to be an integral part of the league, help the group, and the club keep going.”
The Whitecaps are back at BC Place on Saturday, July 26, when they host Sporting Kansas City.
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