Vancouver has scored a Major League Soccer franchise, the league announced on Wednesday.
The team will be moving from Swangard Stadium in 2011 to play in a renovated B.C. Place Stadium, which will have a new retractable roof installed following the Olympics in 2010. The venue will also feature a seamless 20,000-seat, soccer-specific configuration.
Vancouver is MLS’ 17th team and only the second Canadian franchise after Toronto FC joined the league in 2006.
“We are thrilled to welcome Vancouver into Major League Soccer for the 2011 season,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said. “The ownership team of Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett and Steve Nash love the game and represent a new breed of ownership group. Our new Vancouver team also provides an attractive stadium plan and a market with a rich soccer tradition.”
Vancouver Whitecaps FC will continue to field a USL-1 team during the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
“British Columbians are excited about hosting a Major League Soccer team in a newly renovated B.C. Place Stadium beginning in 2011,” said Premier Gordon Campbell. “The Vancouver Whitecaps have been a part of our province’s history for more than three decades. As an MLS team, the Whitecaps organization will carry on that incredible tradition, as well as generate economic benefits of up to $25 million each season.”
In October, the Whitecaps FC, champions of the first division United Soccer Leagues, applied for one of two MLS expansion franchises for the 2011 season.
Seven other cities, including Montreal and Ottawa, applied for the expansion franchises. As of Tuesday, only Vancouver, Ottawa, Portland and St. Louis remained in the running.
The 2009 MLS season begins Thursday with the expansion Seattle Sounders taking on the New York Red Bulls.
The Sounders, a former USL rival of the ‘Caps, were granted their expansion team in 2007. The team has more than 20,000 season ticket holders, the most in the MLS.
Toronto FC capped its season tickets at 19,000 and has 14,000 people on the season ticket waiting list.
Five thousand $50 deposits for Vancouver Major League Soccer 2011 season tickets go on sale this Saturday, March 21, at 10 a.m. Current Whitecaps ticket holders receive priority purchase rights for 2011 season tickets. For more information on securing a season ticket for 2011, visit vancouvermls2011.com.
