Bob Mackin
Could Major League Soccer’s 2025 runner-up really leave Vancouver next year if it doesn’t get a better bargain this year at B.C. Place Stadium?
Or is the for-sale Whitecaps’ soon-to-expire arrangement a sweetheart deal?
theBreaker.news has exclusively obtained, via freedom of information, the 15-year contract with taxpayer-owned stadium manager B.C. Pavilion Corp. (PavCo).
How it began
The contract was dated March 10, 2011 — nine days before the first Major League Soccer match at the temporary Empire Field. It expires March 14, 2026.
Inaugural year
PavCo provided the interim stadium free of charge and agreed to compensate the Whitecaps an amount equal to all lost sponsorship revenue during the B.C. Place renovations. MLS debuted downtown on Oct. 2, 2011.
Rent control
Rent for each game at B.C. Place is 3% of the amount of net ticket sales, but was capped at $400,000 a year. After 2016, the rent ceiling was tied to the consumer price index.
According to the Bank of Canada CPI calculator, what cost $400,000 in 2011 was worth $549,084.86 in 2025.
PavCo does not charge the club for basic event personnel and event services or basic hot and cold water, electricity and general TV lighting, heating and ventilation.
Beginning in September every year, the Whitecaps and PavCo meet to agree on blackout dates and preferred dates for the following season.
Ticket tax
PavCo charged $2 per ticket sold, per match in 2011, which rose to $3 per ticket in 2015 and $3.25 in the 2016 sponsorship amendment.
Myth buster
The Whitecaps do get a cut of food and beverage revenue, but only if gross sales exceed $3.5 million during the club’s operating year.
If that happens, then PavCo must pay the Whitecaps 12.5% of gross food and beverage revenues.
Before kickoff of the Whitecaps’ 4-2 MLS debut win over Toronto FC at Empire Field on March 19, 2011. (WhitecapsFC.com)
Suite deal
The 2011 contract charges the Whitecaps $180,000-per-year for use of all but six of the 50 Pacific Rim Suites on level 3. They can sell or rent to the public the suites, which come with two parking spots each at no additional charge.
The suite fee became inflation-adjusted in 2016. That means the fee was as high as $247,088.19 in 2025.
Timing is everything
The Whitecaps’ first match of 2026 is a CONCACAF Champions Cup meeting with C.S. Cartagines of Costa Rica on Feb. 18. Three days later, the home MLS opener against Real Salt Lake.
Whitecaps CEO Axel Schuster’s update to season ticketholders on Jan. 30 followed by the Jan. 31 statement from MLS happened the weekend before Super Bowl LX, less than three weeks until the NDP government’s annual budget on Feb. 17.
In December, Vancouver city council agreed to negotiate over the next year for a potential new stadium at the Hastings Racecourse site on the PNE grounds.
PavCo is spending $171 million to $181 million on renovations and operating costs for seven FIFA World Cup 26 matches. After the Colorado Rapids visit on April 25, the Whitecaps won’t be back at B.C. Place until Aug. 1 versus LAFC.
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