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Whitecaps are closing in on a new kit sponsor

Har Johal
Har Johal
|
Jan 30 2023, 8:49 pm
Whitecaps are closing in on a new kit sponsor
Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The Whitecaps 2023 season is just around the corner and there is still plenty left to do before the season starts on February 25 when the Caps host Real Salt Lake at BC Place.

The silly season is in full swing and that includes kit sponsor speculation, rumoured strikers, potentially a new Caps keeper, and another visa application. Daily Hive caught up with Whitecaps CEO and Sporting Director Axel Schuster to discuss all things Whitecaps. 

The biggest question mark ahead of the season surrounds the Whitecaps’ pursuit of a new kit sponsor. The Whitecaps and Bell ended a decade-plus partnership earlier this month. 

Daily Hive has exclusively learned that the Whitecaps are in the final stages of finalizing a new kit sponsor.

Caps fans hoping for local company Lululemon will be disappointed. 

Adidas, Coca-Cola, DoorDash, Heineken, Avant, and EA Sports, are all corporate MLS sponsors. While BMO bank is the official bank sponsor for the Whitecaps, the new kit sponsor will not be a banking institution, beer, or clothing company.

Asked if the new Whitecaps kit sponsor could be an airline company, Schuster would not reveal his cards.

“I don’t comment on that yet,” Schuster told Daily Hive.

Vancouver has had a quiet offseason with just two additions to the roster in centre-backs, Mathias Laborda and Karifa Yao. The Caps continue to shop for a new striker and goalkeeper. The club is hopeful that both will get done before the season starts. 

“We have a list with several names,” Schuster said. “We’re working down, we had one player that we would have felt good with, but the club has told us they are not open to moving him at all now at the end of the whole process.”

Daily Hive has learned that the player in question was Wolfsberger AC striker Tai Baribo. 

“I’m not commenting on names,” Schuster said.” But yeah, it’s not wrong to speculate this way.”

The Whitecaps have moved on from the Israeli product and have their sights set on the next option. Schuster would not say who but did confirm the player’s name hasn’t leaked out.

Vancouver has been linked with Yokohama F Marinos goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka. If Takaoka is acquired, the 26-year-old would battle Thomas Hasal for top spot in net.

“We’re in the market,” Schuster said regarding the goalkeeper position. “Right now, we have one player, and we are going back and forth with what we can offer and what the club and player are expecting, and then we will see where we are at.”

The Whitecaps are awaiting the completion of a visa application for midfielder JC Ngando.

Vancouver selected Ngando 5th overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. Ngando joined Vancouver in Spain for two weeks of preseason camp.

“He has dropped his passport at the Canadian embassy in Paris,” Schuster explained. “That is always the last step. If he gets his passport back, the visa is in. I don’t want to bet because I have seen everything, and I don’t want to guess. A normal process time is 7 – 10 days.”

Vancouver will travel to Palm Springs, California, today for three weeks of preseason preparation that will feature five matches against MLS clubs beginning on February 1. 

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