The Vancouver Whitecaps are up for sale.
That’s the official message that was released by the club today. The current ownership group—Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett and Steve Nash—said the decision was not taken lightly. They have retained the services of Goldman Sachs to ensure the sale and transition of ownership.
In January 2024, Sportico listed the valuation of the Whitecaps at $470 million US, 27th among the 29 MLS franchises.
“Our group have been committed to transforming our local soccer club into a significant contributor to our community,” Kerfoot said in a club statement. “It is gratifying to see how meaningful the Whitecaps have become to so many, and to have been able to contribute to the growth of a vibrant and thriving soccer community in Vancouver, the Lower Mainland, British Columbia, and beyond.”
Kerfoot has been the majority owner of the Whitecaps since 2002. Mallet and Nash joined the ownership group in 2008 with Luczo joining later that year.
Since then, the four have overseen the Whitecaps joining MLS for the 2011 season and have won four Canadian Championships and four Cascadia Cups. They have made the MLS Playoffs in three of the past five years.
“The Vancouver Whitecaps would not be where they are today without the vision and commitment of this exceptional ownership group,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The Whitecaps are a terrific club in a world-class city. On behalf of everyone at Major League Soccer, I want to thank them for their tremendous contributions and look forward to working with them to identify new ownership for the club.”
The club have stated the sale will not change the direction of the club.
“The focus remains unchanged: striving for excellence on and off the pitch, providing thrilling soccer experiences for fans, and supporting the next generation of soccer talent,” the club said in their statement. “The club intends to build on the momentum of an exciting 2024 and is actively preparing to take another step forward in 2025.”
The big questions
The sale of any major sports franchise is difficult at best. The moment the statement was released, many questions were being asked by fans on social media.
The biggest one of all, understandably, was would the club remain in Vancouver.
To put it in context—the newest MLS member San Diego FC paid a reported expansion fee of $500 million US, $30 million US more than the last valuation of the Whitecaps.
This makes the Whitecaps an attractive option for any prospective owner throughout the MLS region to purchase and relocate.
If a local owner can be found, there is also the question of the stadium. BC Place is owned by the provincial government.
Fans have been clamouring for the club to build a soccer-specific stadium for years. Kerfoot first proposed building one in Vancouver—at his own expense— as early as 2003.
And he owned the land to do it. Back then, Kerfoot proposed swapping a 30,000-square-metre parcel of Vancouver waterfront land he owned for a 10,000-square-metre parcel of federally owned land.
However, that never materialized and the land was eventually sold.
Finding a new parcel of land big enough for an MLS-sized soccer stadium, complete with the surrounding infrastructure and in Vancouver, would be an extremely difficult task.
The current lease for BC Place is finished at the end of the 2025 season.
