One recurring feature of the discussion around MLS expansion so far has been Vancouver's lack of a soccer-specific stadium, which many see as the Achilles' heel of their bid. There's no dispute that the plan to play in a
renovated B.C. Place [
Jeff Lee,
The Vancouver Sun] is not ideal, especially given the league's comments on soccer-specific stadiums. However, in my view at least, it's a better solution than many people believe.
A crucial point to keep in mind is that the renovated B.C. Place will be rather different than the current stadium, which in itself isn't all that bad; I've been there many times over the years to watch the B.C. Lions of the CFL, and while it isn't a perfect stadium, it's nothing to sneeze at either. The proposed renovations will make it much more impressive, though. New seats, washrooms and concession stands will all be in place for the 2010 Olympics next year, and the retractable roof will be installed shortly thereafter.
Another important point to consider is that this is not a unique, unproven design. The whole plan is based off of
Commerzbank Arena [
Wikipedia] in Frankfurt, where Eintracht Frankfurt of the Bundesliga play their home games. The retractable roof design at Commerzbank has proven very successful; the stadium's hosted World Cup and Confederations Cup matches as well as regular Bundesliga matches, and aside from a few minor occasional issues with shadows and the overhanging video screens, these matches have largely proceeded without incident.
Moreover, Commerzbank Arena has proven to be successful as a multipurpose venue. In addition to Eintracht, the arena has hosted plenty of big-ticket musical acts (including the Rolling Stones and U2) and the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe. It hosted three World Bowls (the NFL Europe championship game), proving that it was quite successful as an American football stadium as well as a European one.
What does this have to do with BC Place? Well, a close examination of the
artist's renderings of the new stadium [whitecapsfc.com] shows that the similarities to Commerzbank are quite evident in the design (diagrams of Commerzbank Arena can be found at the bottom of that page). This design has proven to be successful for soccer at the highest level in the world; to me at least, that's enough to avoid dismissing it out of hand. If it's good enough for a World Cup venue, doesn't it at least deserve a shot as an MLS stadium design?
A closer comparison of the two stadiums reveals even more advantages in favour of B.C. Place. Commerzbank was originally known as the Waldstadion, and opened in 1925; it's been renovated significantly since then, but it's still quite old. B.C. Place, on the other hand, opened in 1983, so its basic facilities have much less wear and tear.
Furthermore, a lot of the concerns around B.C. Place are due to it not being a soccer-specific design, which is a fair point. The surface, to my knowledge, will be FieldTurf instead of grass, and that is a drawback; however, FieldTurf is in place at several MLS stadiums, including
BMO Field in Toronto,
Giants Stadium in New Jersey and
Qwest Field in Seattle, so it's fair to say that FieldTurf alone won't keep MLS away. Moreover, the B.C. Place design looks more soccer-specific than many other multipurpose MLS stadiums. If you look at the artist's renderings carefully, they suggest that the roof supports can actually be lowered to the top of the lower bowl, which has significant advantages over just closing off the upper deck with curtains; this looks like it would actually feel like a 22,500-seat stadium instead of a larger half-full stadium. I'm no architecture expert, so I don't know for certain that this is what the end product will look like, but the drawings are certainly promising.
Another point to consider is the rationale behind the soccer-specific stadium push. MLS largely designed this initiative as a way for its teams to avoid two pitfalls; first, playing in cavernous NFL stadiums before a mere smattering of isolated fans, and second, playing somewhere where they have limited control of revenue streams. To address the first point, the difference between a CFL stadium and an NFL stadium is quite significant (to the tune of at least 20,000 fans or so in most places). Moreover, there's a big difference between the CFL and the NFL; the NFL is the foremost juggernaut on the North American sporting landscape, while the CFL is similar to MLS in stature. Thus, the Lions and Whitecaps are more likely to be able to come to a favourable agreement on shared revenues than say, the Sounders and the Seattle Seahawks, or the New York Red Bulls and the Giants and Jets. If I'm the MLS executives, I'm far less concerned about sharing with the CFL than I would be about sharing with the NFL.
A further point in favour of giving this stadium a shot is its capacity. Yes, at the moment, it's imagined as a 22,500 seat stadium for soccer. However, there's good reason to think that the Whitecaps might be able to take advantage of the close to 60,000 seat design at suitable times. In November 2007, the Whitecaps
packed in 48,172 for an exhibition game against
David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy. Yes, part of that was Beckham mania, but it wasn't a purely isolated incident. Way back in 1983, the Whitecaps of the old NASL opened B.C. Place with a
2-1 victory over the Seattle Sounders [
Ian Walker,
The Vancouver Sun] in front of 60,000 fans, and the 1983 Soccer Bowl was held there later that year. Furthermore, as
Duane related earlier, Seattle's already passed the 20,000 mark in season ticket sales, and Toronto FC surely would have by now if their season-ticket list wasn't capped at 16,500. Vancouver's proven to have at least as big of a high-level soccer market as those cities over the years, so there's a good chance that a MLS Whitecaps side could see similar season-ticket demand. If that happens, we might see the full stadium used more often than not. That's something that makes you question the soccer-specific stadium push, actually; yes, it makes heaps of sense in markets where you're not going to sell more than 20,000 tickets whatever the circumstances, but in places like Seattle and Toronto where you could easily sell 30,000-40,000 tickets a game, why wouldn't you?
Vancouver's bid is also helped by the location of B.C. Place. It's right downtown and easily accessible by both bus and SkyTrain, so there are none of the transit concerns that have arisen with some other cities' bids. The Lions and Canucks (General Motors Place is right next door) have both shown that the area can be tremendously viable for pro sports. There are pubs all around where fans can meet up before or after the game, and it's very easy to come in from the suburbs as well, which is a big advantage. Keep in mind that Vancouver is a bigger market than many realize; the city proper
has only around 578,000 people, but Metro Vancouver has 2,116,581 and the Lower Mainland has 2,547,479 [Wikipedia]. Suburban types like myself have proven more than willing to travel into the city to support the Whitecaps, Canucks and Lions, so those higher numbers should definitely be the ones considered by MLS.
There are a few other factors to take into account regarding Vancouver's MLS bid. As mentioned above, the key point used by critics against their plan is the lack of an immediate soccer-specific stadium. However, keep in mind that most of the talk around soccer-specific stadiums has been from MLS commissioner
Don Garber, and anything he says these days needs to be taken with a grain of salt (consider how his visit to every potential expansion city usually ends with fans there being convinced that they're a lock for a team). Soccer-specific stadiums are certainly a goal of the league, but they've shown themselves willing to compromise with Seattle, and as pointed out above, there are several significant reasons why a renovated B.C. Place would be less of a concern for MLS than a multipurpose stadium elsewhere.
Furthermore, Vancouver's bid is farther ahead on the stadium front than several offered by other cities. Consider Ottawa, for example; as Duane
reported earlier, they're still looking at
23 different sites for a stadium! Also, it hasn't been decided yet if that stadium will be MLS-only, CFL-only or a multipurpose venue. Even if
Eugene Melnyk's proposed plan for a soccer-specific stadium in Kanata is accepted, that still isn't necessarily better than the B.C. Place bid. For one thing, construction would have to move awfully quickly for a team to begin play there in 2011, and if my experience at Queen's has taught me anything, it's that massive arena construction projects are
tough to do quickly and tough to
keep on budget. Oh, and by the way, Melnyk just got hit with a $1 million fine and is still facing criminal charges
thanks to his BioVail shenanigans [
Ben Rycroft,
It's Called Football! blog, Metro News Toronto]. That can't be good for his chances (Rycroft says it "may be the final nail in his bid for a 2011 MLS franchise"].
In Portland, there
are still plenty of concerns and unsettled issues [
Mark Larabee,
The Oregonian] (particularly on the city side) over renovating PGE Park into a soccer-specific facility and building a new baseball stadium. Also with that project, keep in mind that Portland mayor
Sam Adams is still embroiled in scandal over a relationship with an intern, which
could hurt the MLS bid [
John Canzano,
The Oregonian]: Adams has been a big supporter of the project, but he may be trying to keep a lower profile now, and he's
been more cautious in his comments on MLS lately [
Andy Giegerich,
Portland Business Journal]. Specifically, he wants Timbers' owner
Merritt Paulson to chip in more money and guarantee more of the project, which may be a tough sell in the current economic climate.
In Miami, things appear a little more certain on the stadium front. The plan is for a renovated stadium at Florida International University. However, it would also be a FieldTurf surface and shared with a NCAA football team (the FIU Golden Panthers) that would
practice there as well [
Jeff Rusnak,
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel]. This is less advantageous than the B.C. Place bid, because the Lions have their own extensive training complex out in Surrey, B.C. Given the daily schedules of NCAA football teams during their season, there could be some issues around who can use the facility when and how much the turf can handle. Moreover, Rusnak writes that there are still concerns about the construction of dressing rooms and the lack of a press box. Furthermore, Barcelona's support
may be wavering [
Michelle Kaufman,
The Miami Herald] thanks to the economy.
In St. Louis, the plans are for a
18,500 seat soccer-specific stadium [
St. Louis Soccer United]. Keep in mind that little has been actually done on the stadium front so far, though, and Garber called their bid out on a lack of investor support
last month [
R.B. Fallstrom, The Associated Press via
USA Today]. It's incredibly difficult to get the necessary loans for a stadium in this economic climate even if you've got a ton of money, which the St. Louis group doesn't seem to have.
By contrast, the B.C. Place renovations are already well underway and will happen regardless of the MLS decision. Sharing with the Lions may not be ideal from a soccer-specific standpoint, but it's certainly helpful from a financial/political standpoint. Furthermore, the eventual soccer-specific waterfront stadium is still a very solid prospect as well; the design's done, the site's been selected and it's down to working out a land transfer with the Vancouver Port Authority.
The biggest point in Vancouver's favour has nothing to do with the stadium, though; it's the ownership group. As Duane pointed out a while back in his
post criticizing the bid, "There are two major things MLS is looking for in a new team - wealthy investors and a solid stadium plan." He wrote later in the post that "Ownership in Ottawa and Portland is just as good as Vancouver. And both cities have better stadium plans. It's that simple." This is where I disagree. I've suggested above that those stadium plans aren't necessarily better, especially when you consider that they're pie-in-the-sky at the moment next to Vancouver's already-begun renovations.
What's even more in Vancouver's favour is the ownership, though, which is pretty much a dream team in my opinion. First, you have
Greg Kerfoot, who is synonymous with soccer in the city and in Canada. He's proven willing to throw tons of money into soccer development at the club and country level. Next, you have
Bob Lenarduzzi, the face of the franchise and one of the most well-known Canadian soccer personalities. You also have
Steve Nash, who's a massive local hero, an international celebrity and a devoted soccer fan,
Steve Luczo, who's involved
with the Boston Celtics and IndyCar series racing [
whitecapsfc.com], and
Jeff Mallett, famed for his time with Yahoo! back when it was successful and his work with Major League Baseball's San Franciso Giants. To me, that's a lot more promising than
Merritt Paulson, who has some NBA experience but is more famous for being the son of the
former Secretary of the Treasury, or
Eugene Melnyk, who's still fighting with his own company and still
facing SEC fraud charges [
David Glovin, Bloomberg News via
The Financial Post].
One final thing to keep in mind on the Vancouver front is rivalries. Rivalries are crucial to selling sports, and Vancouver has the advantage of holding pre-existing rivalries with Seattle and Toronto (as well as Portland if they get in). Miami doesn't really have any pre-existing rivalries of note and neither does St. Louis, while Ottawa has Toronto and Portland has Seattle, but Vancouver has the advantage of long-standing history against Seattle and Portland and more recent battles with Toronto FC. Furthermore, adding Vancouver would greatly help in terms of increasing national TV audience in Canada, which could lead to more lucrative deals on that front for MLS.
MLS expansion to Vancouver is far from a sure thing. A lot depends on how much emphasis Garber and co. put on successful and deep-pocketed ownership, and the stadium and ownership decisions in other cities will certainly have a big impact on the success or failure of the Vancouver bid. However, I don't think you can write off the Whitecaps yet. Their stadium plan isn't ideal, but it isn't all that bad either, and there are plenty of other factors in their favour, such as ownership, finances and rivalries. To myself and others, such as The Vancouver Sun's
Ian Walker, there's
reason for optimism.
