Whitecaps MLS news
 

Hey all,

If this is the wrong place to start a thread on Whitecaps MLS franchise pursuit, please relocate this thread into its proper place. I came across this article on the Whitecaps MLS' bid

here's the article:
http://www.theprovince.com/Sports/Wh...818/story.html

Atlanta just dropped it's bid. So it's down to St. Louis, Miami, Portland and Ottawa. Personally, I don't think Ottawa has much of a chance. I think it's between St. Louis, Miami, Portland, and Vancouver. Two spots, 4 teams.

I think Vancouver's going to get into the MLS. The other team? I'm predicting it's either Miami or Portland.

ya I think its a sho in for Vancouver :)

What happened to Montreal?

My hope is for one team on the west coast (Vancouver) and one other on the east coast (Miami or Montreal, preferably Montreal but I'm not sure how they think about adding two Canadian teams in one year)

Montreal dropped it's bid, because the expansion fee (40 million) was too expensive for the owner (his name escapes me at the moment).

Really ? YESSSS !!! Vancouver is in a good spot then.

If the MLS went this route (adding one western team, and one eastern team). I would think they would add Vancouver, and Miami. Montreal has dropped their bid for an MLS franchise, because the expansion fees were too much.

Ottawa is the only other Canadian city in the bidding (as far as we know). I'm not sure if they have much of a chance, because they don't have (in my understanding) much of soccer roots. They are pretty much starting from scratch, in terms of building a soccer community (if they have one, I'm not sure if it's very strong). Vancouver, I personally think is going to be granted a franchise (we will see very soon before the MLS 2009 season), and the other franchise, I think is either going to be Miami (they have the backing of FC Barcelona - that's huge!), or Portland (traditionally has strong soccer community). I would be very surprised if Vancouver was left out (what a tragic decision that would be for MLS).

It's unfortunate the waterfront stadium is collapsing. BC Place might be the new home of the MLS franchise Whitecaps. I would have loved to see a medium sized stadium (built by the money of Kerfoot, instead of tax payers) in the downtown core. too bad it's not going to happen. i say the whitecaps look at other locations of moving the stadium. it's downtown's lost.

It has nothing to do with City red tape, it's the port authority refusing to give a land swap to Kerfoot for the land he needs to build the stadium.

if the Whitecaps play in BC Place, would that make it the largest stadium in the MLS?

It would certainly be one of the largest, but according to this article, capacity would be limited to about 22,000 with the "soccer draping". The top 5 largest MLS stadiums (source) would be:

1) LA - 27,000
2) NY - 25,189
3) Columbus - 22,685
4) BC Place - 22,000
5) Dallas - 21,193

Miami is a shoe-in. And I suspect Ottawa's bid is not ready for prime time - at least from the MLS perspective.

So we're looking at a three-way race betwen St. Louis, Portland and Vancouver.

St. Louis and Portland have the advantage of being in the U.S., and both have more corporate muscle. And both have natural rivals located nearby.

But due to the strength of the Vancouver bid (ownership, fan base, the potential to emulate Toronto FC's success, some potential rivalries with Seattle, Toronto) I agree with the above posters that the Whitecaps bid will indeed prevail.

I think we will, however, see Portland and St. Louis be rewarded for hanging around while other cities bailed -- with their being selected in the following league expansion.

Miami has a lot going for them, because of who their backer is (FC Barcelona). Vancouver's done good for themselves, and I think they will get in. I don't know when the next league expansion will be (after this expansion, they should really look at just trying to stabilize their league), but St. Louis and Portland deserve a place in the league.

I'd like Vancouver and Portland to join in competing for the Heritage Cup.

Lenarduzzi and the boys have an inside as edge as they are cozy with the league higher ups. I'd be very shocked if they don't get in the MLS. However, then again I've seen funnier things happen.

As for the SSP Stadium I don't see it happening anytime soon. But wouldn't it be great to see some work for the construction workers who are about to feel the brunt of this downturn? The fact that its privately funded is what really makes this painful. Hopefully they can work something out with the ports soon.

Fans of the other expansion cities love to point out that Vancouver has a few things against it. The revenue from matches at BC Place because it's not owned by the Caps. Of course the bid Vancouver put in has never been divulged to the public so we don't know the specifics on that. There is also national tv revenue, which MLS wants.

Then they also like to point out that BC Place is not a SSS like St Louis or what Portland will have and it will share with a grid-iron team even though you can point out to them that it will in fact be a SSS with the second inner roof. They also blatantly do not do research on Portland's stadium, which will also share a grid-iron team just like Seattle currently does and the Miami bid will.

To me Vancouver's bid is the best. Everything is in place unlike St Louis, which nobody knows who the mystery investors are. Garber said a couple of days ago that money is St. Louis' "primary concern."

Portland who still needs the City to approve funds to refurbish PGE Park baseball stadium, which already received millions from the city a few years ago to update it. Now they need to ask for more public money to convert it to soccer and also build a brand new baseball stadium for the vacated baseball team. It does sound positive as of late though.

MLS has said the successful bids will be made public before March 19.

I personally do not think the waterfront stadium will be built in downtown. Funnier things have happened, but realistically, I really don't think the ports will budge. I say, as a reasonable alternative - move the stadium somewhere else. If the ports don't want anything to do with this really great project, then just go somewhere else.

I think the Whitecaps stadium will eventually get built - sooner, rather than later (I think), because BC Place stadium doesn't belong to the Whitecaps, they'll have to pay some kind of fee for using it. I don't see this as a viable long term solution. Kerfoot, I think, will eventually move the stadium somewhere else. I'm not sure if he's willing to wait the situation out. Then again, the man is a billionare, so he can afford to pay rent, if he so chooses to decide to do so.

Whitecaps 'still in a battle' for 2011 MLS expansion franchise - The Vancouver Sun

January 16, 2009
It's a familiar scene for Bob Lenarduzzi. The Vancouver Whitecaps president has attended past Major League Soccer drafts, using the annual event as a way to recruit and scout players for his United Soccer Leagues First Division team.

But only two years removed from Vancouver possibly being one of the teams to make a selection in the four-round process, Lenarduzzi found himself Thursday trying not to think too much about what might be. The Whitecaps are among six teams looking for one of two expansion franchises for the 2011 MLS season.

"There's lots of people aware we've submitted a bid and that it's a pretty solid bid, so we're hearing lots of things from people in general," said Lenarduzzi, who is joined in St. Louis by Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson, among others.

"At this stage, it doesn't mean much because we haven't really had any clear indication from the league. So as far as we're concerned, we're still in a battle for those two spots."

Word is MLS is within weeks of announcing its next two expansion markets. The league promised when bids were submitted last October to make its decision in advance of its 2009 season, which kicks off March 18.

Adding intrigue to the expansion announcement is a rumour that the Philadelphia franchise may not be ready to begin play in 2010.

"I wish we could give you hard commitments today, but we're not even sure the stadium is going to be built," Nick Sakiewicz, CEO of the company which owns the yet-to-be-named MLS club, told the Delaware County Times earlier this month. "If the [financial] markets tank next month, then we won't build this thing. We'll be out $15 million and everyone goes home."

On Thursday, the Philadelphia franchise issued a press release offering fans the chance to name the team, but it said nothing of the stadium issue.

"There are some concerns, but it really comes down to the economy," said Lenarduzzi. "We're being told there's been a shovel in the ground and are moving forward as planned. When it comes to Philadelphia, the league is not even discussing contingency plans. They've been pretty adamant Philadelphia will be there."

And if it's not? Lenarduzzi chose not to speculate.

The prevailing thought, however, is one of the six franchises hoping for an expansion team for 2011 -- Vancouver, Ottawa, Portland, St. Louis, Atlanta and Miami -- would take Philadelphia's spot.

It's extremely unlikely Vancouver would be one of those teams as the Whitecaps cannot begin play out of a renovated BC Place until the 2011 season.

It's believed Miami would welcome the chance to join a year early. Miami's backers include Bolivian cellphone mogul Marcelo Claure, whose $5 billion US company is based in the Florida city.

iwalker@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

:previous: Vancouver's chances are looking promising. let's just continue to hope that they get in :)