r/whitecapsfc • u/Jadzeey đĄď¸ Moderator • Aug 11 '26
An Open Letter to Ravi Kahlon and David Eby from #SaveTheCaps
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u/vancouver-duder Aug 11 '26
Huge kudos for the tight focus on the issue that we all care about.
When making a statement to politicians, it feels unavoidable that the statement will feel like it's coming from a specific political viewpoint. When that happens, there's always a risk you'll lose a lot of support from people who have different political views. As a left-winger I am definitely likely to step away from causes/groups that don't feel welcoming to me, even when I want to support their overall mission.
Not so here. On this issue- finding ways keep the club here - we are all pulling on the same rope and I give so much credit to the leaders/messengers of Save the Caps for keeping us united in supporting the cause. Great work!
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u/EdgeMore758 Aug 11 '26
This came up on my feed and peaked my interest, I live in Vancouver and didnât know this was happening. I feel it needs more social media attention!!
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u/Jadzeey đĄď¸ Moderator Aug 11 '26
Share it far and wide. We need as much exposure and pressure in the correct places before its too late.
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u/Low_Contract7809 Aug 13 '26
Handing over the management of the stadium is a terrible idea without more details.
Even with details revealed, it likely stinks.
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u/Ok_Complaint_6825 Aug 11 '26
The accompanying piece in the Daily Hive summarizes the issue and potential solution very well. As long as the Province/PavCo are not incentivized to maximize BC Place direct revenues, there is little reason for them to keep running the stadium.
If they shift to a new model, the risk to the Province is minimal and there is a potential upside for all parties. The risk of keeping the status quo is higher. Keeping things the same would certainly lead to the demise of the Whitecaps and would have significant effects on the overall economic impact in the province (i.e. the thing that PavCo is actually mandated to maximize).
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/savethecaps-vancouver-whitecaps-bc-place-stadium-operations
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u/604dman Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Sorry but its a provincially owned building paid for by the taxpayers and owned by the taxpayers. Owners need to buy their own field and invest in the community and show their fans they support football in Vancouver. This is not on the Government
Edited to add: Kerfoot is a BILLIONAIRE
Nash is worth almost 100 Million
Mallett is worth 750 Million
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u/No_Difference_1983 Aug 11 '26
That is why they want to give money to the province for the building. The province should not spent time and money managing (poorly) a stadium, they should focus on real province problems.
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u/Aggressive-Base7815 Aug 12 '26
This is capitulating to capital. The city and province is better off if the Whitecaps leave. A place doesnât become better because billionaires get to have their way. If they wanted to they could get land and a stadium built but choose not to. They donât want to pay for the entirety of it. People should not have to make deals with them. Let them leave.Â
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u/604dman Aug 11 '26
give pennies on the dollar. Who gets the revenue from concerts, events, Lions games? Who pays the employees of the Building? there are way to many issues. Billionaires and their toys are their responsibility. And yes the Government should not be worried about a sports team crying poor (remember owned by Billionaires)
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u/whitecapsinsider đ Whitecaps FC Aug 11 '26
The Whitecaps and government will split revenues according to the agreement they sign (itâs not 100% Whitecaps)
The Whitecaps pay the employees and seem to be keeping existing union agreements.
The Lions have no changes to the existing lease they just signed. Maybe they get more revenue generating opportunities in the stadium too around sponsorships.
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u/604dman Aug 11 '26
LOL pretty sure the unions are not suddenly gling to agree to be employees of some MLS team sorry. They are provincial employees this answer, with all due respect, is utterly ridiculous.
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u/whitecapsinsider đ Whitecaps FC Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Sorry let me clarify.
Security, F&B, operational employees are not provincial employees. They are unionized and contracted.
Those agreements will not be terminated and will continue if the Whitecaps control the stadium
The PavCo management (who yes are technically unionized) will continue to work for PavCo. In the long term, their jobs are probably in jeopardy simply because that amount of middle/upper management wonât be needed only for the convention centre. Just to further clarify, this is not related to executives.
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u/No_Difference_1983 Aug 11 '26
Clearly this person has no idea what is going on and just wants to make clear the idea he has of sports owners. It is valid but way out of context here like a lot of opinions. And I mean not you, the one answering all over.
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u/No_Difference_1983 Aug 11 '26
You are wright in the broader theme but not in the specifics, you have a lot to learn about what the team is asking, how government works and how crown corps work.
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Aug 12 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/whitecapsfc-ModTeam Aug 12 '26
Unfortunately, we were forced to remove your post as it was deemed to be contrary to the principles of Reddiquette.
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u/Ironchar 6d ago
And now Kahlon, who was loved in Delta North and favoured by some to be the next leader of the NDP.... is not running for election
Wacky..... BCpoli just as chaotic as this stadium situation
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u/Intrepidcuriosity_68 4d ago
Can someone explain what happened in the 83 min against LAFC when Takaoka had the ball at his feet inside the box during open play, and Then Priso decided to collapse and attend to what apparently turned out to be a muscle cramp. He did not point to his head, But the referee appeared to blow his whistle and stop the play dead.
Priso signalled to the bench that this doesnâneed a substitution. Sure enough he got some stretching assistance for his muscle cramp from a teammates.
However, the referee re-started the play by putting it again on Takokaâs foot who was not obliged to pass it to the opposition. neither team complained of this method of re-starting the play. Shouldnât Takaoka been encouraged to kick the ball out of bounds, to allow his teammate to get the required attention for his condition?
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u/Hefty-Profession-310 Aug 11 '26
Billionaires leveraging fans to force government to subsidize the wealthiest. Sad state of a affairs
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u/Jadzeey đĄď¸ Moderator Aug 11 '26
We already subsidize BC Place as taxpayers. The Whitecaps aren't looking for government money to run the stadium, they are looking to control their revenue on the same playing field as the rest of the league.
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Aug 11 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Jadzeey đĄď¸ Moderator Aug 11 '26
Itâs not about taking current revenue, itâs about expanding it.
One example is in beer sales. Right now PavCo controls the type of beer sold in most of the concession stands, meaning the âofficial beer of the whitecapsâ is a much less valuable partnership. We have an official import beer, but itâs only featured at a few concession stands and outside the stadium.
Being able to control these small things that PavCo rightfully doesnât care about will open up a lot more revenue streams for the club without costing the taxpayer a dime.
You can also look up the B.C. Place financial reports and it consistently was $4-5m in the red, with 2025 being the only year it made profit ($400k lol). This can largely be attributed to the Eras tour and to the whitecaps playoff and CCC run which drew in record crowds. Their own projections have them losing $5-7m a year over the next few years, and thatâs with $22m ($7-9m operating contributions, and $15m of deferred contributions) of taxpayer money going into PavCos running of B.C. place.
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u/sharpnylon Aug 11 '26
Ho hum. Taxpayers already finance dumb shit. Let it at least be something that brings great joy to many.
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u/JackQuint Aug 11 '26
Out of touch ... BC Place is a public asset supported by substantial public investment. Unless the terms of any management agreement are beneficial to the public interest, not just keeping the 'Caps, the government needs to say no.
By public interest, the BC Lions need to be treated on the same basis that they are currently (as a primary and longstanding tenant). By public interest it means the stadium needs to be made available for events that may not be profitable but are a community service (eg. Climb for Nature). By public interest, PavCo needs to be made whole and provided at least the revenue base they currently receive and a share of increased revenue.
While I obviously support saving the caps, this simplistic lens in which some of these issues are viewed are not in the public interest.
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u/whitecapsinsider đ Whitecaps FC Aug 11 '26
The deal does give the government a revenue split which is equal to what they receive today.
If the Whitecaps can grow revenue, this will be a net positive to the government
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u/Aggressive-Base7815 Aug 12 '26
Itâs not a net revenue because BC Place is more than just a billionaireâs investment (which they will leverage it as since they can still sell the team later on). BC Place also provides community events which the Caps owners will try to stop due to âgrowing revenueâ. Itâs not a bonus for the lower mainlandâs community.Â
The billionaire owners can build their own stadium or fuck off.
Stop kneeling to the 1%. Itâs just a sport.
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u/whitecapsinsider đ Whitecaps FC Aug 12 '26
People having different opinions than you is kneeling to billionaires, when weâre talking about literally putting more money in government coffers, great discussion!
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Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
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u/Gael2407 Aug 11 '26
when has any protest been trashed?
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Aug 11 '26
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u/Gael2407 Aug 11 '26
most ppl have commented on that sub to reconsider the distance its an 9-10 HOURS walk, this is not a protest...
Respect the spirit of it but dont know how useful this will be.
When in the other hand this is public and social pressure to ppl that are supposed to help
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Aug 11 '26
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u/Gael2407 Aug 11 '26
define football culture then
Is football culture ppl wanting to walk 9-10 hours?
it will never happen to clubs in Europe or SA as clubs there can be owned by the public, teams have their own stadiums and have way better revenue streams
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Aug 11 '26
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u/Jadzeey đĄď¸ Moderator Aug 11 '26
The alternative is that BC Place loses its primary tenant and loses even more money year on year.
Give the club 5 years to show they can be sustainable in controlling BC Place, allow PavCo to keep a % of revenue and let the Caps use BC Place to its full potential profit wise.
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Aug 11 '26
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u/StuckInHoleSendHelp Aug 11 '26
Then explain it to us children please, because from where I'm standing BC Place is one of the only major stadiums in North America that's both owned and operated by a government entity and as a result the province is throwing money away year over year. The current model loses money and makes pro sports in Vancouver (the main purpose of building BC Place in the first place) unsustainable.
There are examples all over the world and in this very league of government-owned stadiums being successfully run by their primary tenants. Why is BC Place so special that we should keep the status quo and lose the Whitecaps as a result?
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u/Hefty-Profession-310 Aug 11 '26
Letting billionaires profit more at the cost of taxpayers because of we don't, they will just leave. Sad state of affairs
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u/Jadzeey đĄď¸ Moderator Aug 11 '26
This isn't an ownership run attempt at extortion. The club loses more money than any other club in the league and the primary reason is lack of control over stadium sponsorship and being able to generate money through events during the off season.
The Whitecaps will give a share of revenue to PavCo in exchange for control. PavCo and the BC Taxpayers actually stand to benefit more from this than the current arrangement.
Right now PavCo are content with their current revenue as they don't need to make money to survive. They are entirely bailed out by us as the tax payers. Their management are more than happy to collect their government funded salaries, receive free kickbacks (Taylor Swift Suites) and as a result will lose a tenant that generates millions in revenue for them.
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u/sharpnylon Aug 11 '26
Go back to reviewing bacon portion sizes and leave the stadium talk to the rest of us.
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u/First-Size915 Aug 11 '26
The BC government just needs to sell BC Place to the Whitecaps/Lions. This is the best scenario. It doesnât make a profit for the government and would be a hit of cash they could use for a whole host of good. The stadium is owned by the taxpayers of BC and if we want to sell it to save the Caps then the government should facilitate that.
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u/Jadzeey đĄď¸ Moderator Aug 11 '26
Please sign this petition to show support. https://c.org/RhDTmpjvQf
It's being reported that in the coming weeks, the province and PavCo will make a decision on the Whitecaps proposal to take over management of BC Place for a mid/short term deal. The terms are not public, but premier has made it clear that this deal does not involve any increases in taxpayer money going towards BC Place, and that it is not a purchase option. All the club wants is the ability to manage the stadium and control and expand the revenue sources at BC Place and put them on a more equal footing with the league.
At the end of the day, the club needs more revenue to survive in Vancouver and PavCo are not able to do that for them. I would hate to think about how much of a financial black hole BC Place will be without its primary tenant. Both PavCo and the BC Taxpayers stand to benefit more from this arrangement with the Whitecaps wanting to share a % of revenue with PavCo.
Please spread the word, sign the petition, and join us in raising our voice to help persuade Eby, Kahlon and PavCo to make the right choice.