The City of Vancouver and Vancouver Whitecaps have signed a memorandum of understanding on a potential new Hastings Park stadium-development and lease deal.

The team and city have agreed to exclusive one-year negotiation period. If the MOU results in a deal, the Major League Soccer club will be responsible for funding the stadium’s construction and then operate the venue under a long-term ground lease.

The potential lease area sits within the existing Hastings Racecourse footprint, which has included space used for horseracing this season, which ended in October, and casino operations. Since 1889, the racecourse has been the home of horseracing in Vancouver. But operator Great Canadian Entertainment unexpectedly shut down the racetrack business, effective immediately, in early December.

“It’s really up to the Whitecaps, and if they have future partners, to come up with a plan that makes sense,” said Mayor Ken Sim during a Thursday news conference at city hall that included a signing ceremony.

“And then they’ll present that to council and there’ll be a lot of opportunities to go through a public hearing and make sure it works in the context of our city and the region.”

As part of the MOU running until year-end 2026, the city and Major League Soccer club will also consider developing an entertainment district in the designated area. The city owns Hastings Park which includes the Pacific National Exhibition grounds.

The approximately 265-acre east Vancouver park is commonly known as the PNE rather than Hastings Park, a name that the city has deployed more frequently in recent years. The newly mothballed racetrack was previously known, for decades, as Exhibition Park.

Under the MOU, the city and the Whitecaps will work toward terms for the ground lease, which would cover stadium design, financial arrangements and community benefits.

The partnership is designed to keep the club, which is up for sale, in Vancouver. The team is dissatisfied with its current lease at provincially owned BC Place Stadium, located downtown. MLS Commissioner Don Garber has also complained about the club’s BC Place lease. Garber called it “suboptimal” and “unsustainable” during a November news conference in Vancouver.

The Whitecaps previously sought to develop their own soccer-specific stadium on downtown waterfront land owned by publicity-shy Caps majority owner, Greg Kerfoot, who lets co-owners and club executives discuss team matters. But the downtown plan was effectively nixed years ago, after the commercial real estate industry strongly opposed it and the Whitecaps signed a long-term BC Place Stadium lease renewal.

The Whitecaps and Garber have contended that the team could move if it does not play in a stadium that is more suitable for soccer under a lease that is more financially beneficial to the franchise than BC Place, is controlled by BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo). The provincial crown corporation manages and operates multiple venues owned by the province.

“Yes, there are interested parties that would like to buy the Whitecaps,” said Sim. “There are interested parties who want to take the Whitecaps out of the city of Vancouver.

“If we do not create an environment, or if there’s no opportunity to have your own stadium where you have your concessions and the economics around it, there is no viable option for anyone who wants to keep the Whitecaps in the city of Vancouver.”

Axel Schuster, the team’s CEO and sporting director, said during the news conference that the franchise just wants a “fair deal.”

“I’m very convinced that we have reasonable and convincing arguments on our side to get to a fair solution,” he said. 

Schuster said the size of the potential new stadium is still to be determined. But it’s a good bet that the stadium would house thousands fewer spectators than BC Place, which has more than 50,000 seats, most of which sit empty during the vast majority of games. The Whitecaps have long expressed their desire to play in a more intimate home with up to about 35,000 seats filled with fans, rather than have to cover up empty seats that look bad on television and hamper the BC Place ambience.

If a Hastings Park lease deal gets done, the city will continue to own the land. Both parties acknowledged the Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s agreement to purchase the casino business currently operating on the site, indicating that it will remain at Hastings Park if a new stadium is constructed. But it remains to be seen whether the casino will be relocated or the potential stadium and entertainment district will be built around it.

Any future project would be subject to regulatory approvals and public processes, including zoning and development applications. Next steps involve early planning and design work for the site, along with more detailed negotiations on the potential ground lease.

A stadium project’s approval will be contingent on a number of determining factors, including Sim’s re-election, along with other members of his ABC party, which dominates council, in 2026. City planners’ endorsement is also likely another key, although the project could still be approved without their blessing.

The stadium project is also likely to face opposition from environmentalists and others who want to rewild the entire park. Area residents are also likely to voice complaints about noise and traffic, as they did when the casino was proposed.

Also, it remains to be seen whether upset racehorse breeders, owners and others within the horseracing industry will mount any form of legal action to prevent the racetrack’s permanent closure.

The Whitecaps’ current BC Place lease expires following the 2026 season. A new BC Place lease will be required until the team can move into a new stadium, simply because there is no other suitable venue for the Whitecaps who are looking to build on their first berth in the recent MLS Cup final.

Sim called on PavCo to grant the club a short-term deal until a new stadium is built.

After the MOU was announced, PavCo issued a statement saying that it “remains in productive discussions” with the Whitecaps on a lease renewal.

“Any discussion about the current agreement — or the new agreement — should be looked at in totality, factoring in not just revenue but also operational costs and capital investments,” said PavCo.

The provincial agency said that the current agreement offers several revenue opportunities for the Whitecaps, who do not cover the costs or risks of most of their gameday cost but would be fully responsible for them in their own venue.

PavCo contended that its primary aim is to be a good partner rather than profit from the lease.

“We have always done our best to prioritize the Whitecaps, often over more profitable events,” said PavCo.

Pictured: Vancouver Whitecaps Mayor Ken Sim (left) and Whitecaps CEO and Sporting Director Axel Schuster (right) during an MOU-signing ceremony and news conference at city hall on Thursday.

Photo: Courtesy of Vancouver Whitecaps