WHITECAPS ANNOUNCE USL PRO SOCCER CLUB

[thunderbur]

Fortius owns BLW #5 and rents it out

Actually, during the construction of that building, the company went bankrupt that was building it so the city (Burnaby) bought it out and now owns the building and rents it to fortius. The field is also owned by the city and has priority booking.

COB has their foot in everything. Talking to the park attendant at central park, the city wanted to move away from working with the whitecaps due to their very high demands in unreasonable amounts of time. E.I calling on a Tuesday morning at 6am saying they want the field at 5pm for training. I'm not kidding.

 

[Dude]

This is all good but we need Canadian Pro league. It will happen when Bob steps down. One thing for sure he loves to blow American Horn.
If he stays around Canadian soccer ranking will end-up at 200 in the World.
One has to give his head a shake. PCSL is good enough league to play in. I guess Bob hates to loose to Canadian teams.

Base...what does Bob have to do w/ a Canadian Pro league being in place or not? He doesn't have enough power or $$$ on his own to either form or block a Canadian Pro league from forming.

I agree, pie in the sky theory, a tru pro domestic league would be wonderful. I don't see it hapenning. Too big a country, too little financial support.

That being said, young Canadian Pros need a pathway to MLS. They need a strong second division in which to play, get minutes, and earn the oportunity to play in the MLS. Now, Canadian content issues, that is a different topic, and it is something Bob has influence over, but I can also understand the thinking that WFC's primary interest is the competitiveness and sellability of their players, no matter what nationality.

BTW, the PCSL is not even close to USL. Give your head a shake. Maybe in one-off games, but it's a jump.

My only hope is that this "farm" team gives young Canadian players in the WFC organization a chance to showcase themselves for the big club. And give guys like Salgado, Dean, etc. more minutes.

Oh, and a place to hide Hurtado.

 

[mtkb]

Actually, during the construction of that building, the company went bankrupt that was building it so the city (Burnaby) bought it out and now owns the building and rents it to fortius. The field is also owned by the city and has priority booking.

COB has their foot in everything. Talking to the park attendant at central park, the city wanted to move away from working with the whitecaps due to their very high demands in unreasonable amounts of time. E.I calling on a Tuesday morning at 6am saying they want the field at 5pm for training. I'm not kidding.

All I know is that we negotiate our hourly rate for #5 directly with Fortius, not the City of Burnaby. There is a private investor or two involved that resurrected the Fortius dream and sank a ridiculous amount of money into that place to get it up and running... it wouldn't be like the city of Burnaby to delegate anything that has the potential to bring in money, but I could be mistaken...

 

[Regs]

So New West is out... was it known previously that the price tag was $11.5M with VWFC ponying up little to none?

Out of all the municipalities & cities out there, isn't Surrey the only one that has continuously stated VWFC would be welcome with open arms?

 

[Rene]

What with the announcing shite before you get approval? Sounds like they drop the ball on stakeholders only talking to the city. Looks bad on VWFC, kinda like their striking...

 

[Mr Base]

New West said no to White Caps as far as getting Queens Park for USL Soccer. I think this is a very direct hit to White Caps as the thought that every one will bend over for them. In my opinion best place for Caps to play is Surrey with portable seats Tom Binnie is the best place. Easy Parking and Sky Train, lots of folks to watch. Surrey is more about soccer development than New West. New West is more about small club soccer. Gold and silver. Queen"s Park is so old,no parking,streets are very tight and not through.
UBC is same as Queen's Park old and bad location. Abby is way out there. Burnaby Lake field 8 could be turned in to nice Park as it has lights all is needed is Grass field and portable seating.

 

[trece verde]

...and Tom Binnie has the Legion Hall for after your "dates," too.

 

[RL RCD]

So New West is out... was it known previously that the price tag was $11.5M with VWFC ponying up little to none?

That is exactly why Whitecaps owners keep this Management in place. Whitecaps Management has been trying for years to get a free (or cheap) ride from Burnaby, Delta, now New West; not sure what the exact deal was with UBC location and how come Whitecaps are still there with their training facility.

They sadly expect that the cities will line up and offer all kind of incentives for Whitecaps (B, C team, whatever) to play and/or train in their city. They obviously live on another planet when they do not understand that there is no enough public money for that purpose but they are still trying and trying and trying although this is now the third city (if I am not mistaken) that closed the door.

For that announcement a few weeks ago (about Queens Park as a new destination for USL team) and now this fiasco somebody should be fired but do not worry, that is not going to happen as long as they try to get a new location into which the owners would not have to pour their own money.
In all honesty I am really starting to question the ownership of the club and their philosophy. How can they watch all this?

And I even did not mention that the club was not able to get a decent striker by the transfer deadline (yesterday) so the loyal fans will still have to watch guys who can only run while having a ball control that is at the silver league level.
But, hey, there is an array of hairstyles and that intimate atmosphere at BC Place with so many sold out games of 21,000 people although the lower bowl has 28,000 seats and upper bowl additional 27,000. That is called genius marketing strategy and successful business.

Honestly, how the hell the owners can even hear and accept announcements about sold out games when there is 38.19% occupied sits in the house. Am I the only one who does not get it?

 

[dezza]

Propsed Whitecaps USL @ Newton Athletic (I assume the field that KPU currently uses) with an upgraded 3K capacity stadium

http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2014/10/2...-facility?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co

 

[RL RCD]

"To meet the team’s need for a 3,000-seat facility with 500 parking stalls, city council were set to consider Monday whether to pay $214,000 for necessary upgrades, including three additional sets of bleachers, concrete paving and chain-link fencing."

So, the City may end up paying $214,000 for necessary upgrades while "a Whitecaps spokesman said the team was still considering options with municipalities other than Surrey, but declined to offer any other details". After that announcement the City of Surrey should immediately halt any negotiations.

Anyway, I heard from multiple sources (from some well informed people from the cities that were already involved in those negotiations) that these are demands by Whitecaps:

1) Grass field,
2) No track around the field,
3) 3,000 - 5,000 seats,
4) Exclusive right to use the field, and
5) All above funded by the City.

As a taxpayer I do wonder how any Council can even consider bringing a USL team into the city when taxpayers would be on the hook for everything. Really, what does the City gets in this deal?

Whitecaps are a professional soccer club and the ownership group should start investing their own money and start creating a legacy of some kind in some communities (or eventually split the cost with an interested city if the council of that city thinks that USL games will bring them some income). But, without a guaranteed revenue no city should invest a cent into a professional soccer club. Public fields/funding in this Province should be only for local amateur players, users, and teams. My five cents on this issue.

 

[dutch08]

"To meet the team’s need for a 3,000-seat facility with 500 parking stalls, city council were set to consider Monday whether to pay $214,000 for necessary upgrades, including three additional sets of bleachers, concrete paving and chain-link fencing."

So, the City may end up paying $214,000 for necessary upgrades while "a Whitecaps spokesman said the team was still considering options with municipalities other than Surrey, but declined to offer any other details". After that announcement the City of Surrey should immediately halt any negotiations.

Anyway, I heard from multiple sources (from some well informed people from the cities that were already involved in those negotiations) that these are demands by Whitecaps:

1) Grass field,
2) No track around the field,
3) 3,000 - 5,000 seats,
4) Exclusive right to use the field, and
5) All above funded by the City.

As a taxpayer I do wonder how any Council can even consider bringing a USL team into the city when taxpayers would be on the hook for everything. Really, what does the City gets in this deal?

Whitecaps are a professional soccer club and the ownership group should start investing their own money and start creating a legacy of some kind in some communities (or eventually split the cost with an interested city if the council of that city thinks that USL games will bring them some income). But, without a guaranteed revenue no city should invest a cent into a professional soccer club. Public fields/funding in this Province should be only for local amateur players, users, and teams. My five cents on this issue.

I bet Abbotsford would JUMP at the opportunity!

 

[RL RCD]

Yes, Rotary Stadium would be a perfect place (4,000 seats, grass field, existing facilities with no additional cost for the taxpayers) but if it is true that Whitecaps insist on a field without the track then Rotary Stadium is out. Beside that I am quite sure that Whitecaps USL would reluctantly move even to Surrey (to play games) let alone to Abbotsford.

Anyway, it is very strange that all those negotiations have been kept as a secret all this time. No details provided from any city officials yet but the fact that some cities already refused to strike the deal tells me that Whitecaps are really asking for too much.

 

[dutch08]

I was referring to the Heat debacle...

 

[RL RCD]

I understand and that is why I am saying that the cities should not use taxpayers money for pro teams. Abbotsford may be a good idea (the stadium already exists, no significant investment for the city, Whitecaps could rent the place so city can make some money, etc). The deal with Heat was ridiculous because the city agreed to invest millions of taxpayers money.

 

[dezza]

Speaking of existing stadiums... Why not Swangard? Just because it has a running track?

 

[RL RCD]

Speaking of existing stadiums... Why not Swangard? Just because it has a running track?

Dezza, you are absolutely right. Swangard should be the first choice. But, again, based on rumours that are flying around Swangard has a track (like Rotary, by the way) so, I guess, it cannot create that "intimate atmosphere".

What is interesting about Newton is a paragraph (in that article for which you left a link) is that 29 different users will be asked to move to other fields during 14 home games (if Whitecaps USL move to Newton). That is where the council is mistaken. It is not only 14 home games; it is also a practice time (which is probably scheduled daily) so that is where we come to the exclusivity (to use the field) which then will cause numerous problems for amateur teams (I have not seen a city in Lower Mainland that does not struggle to provide enough fields for practices/games) so having a pro team as a tenant can only create additional problems.

Anyway, what happened to the plans to build a soccer specific stadium with money invested by the owner(s)? Why it has to be Vancouver Downtown (again, the same story)? Why not purchase that land where the old Empire Field was and build a specific soccer stadium? Initially it could be just with stands for a few thousand people (and then add once/if Whitecaps decide to move out of BC Place). Or, as you asked: Why not Swangard? Why put a pressure on the cities in the area to invest taxpayers money into a pro team?

 

[Dude]

RL, being Devil's advocate here, to many of your points:

~Negotiations should be kept secret. Bringing details to the press helps nobody, especially in, what is essentially, small time negotiations.
~Intimate atmosphere / private investment: I think that story has been beaten to pulp, as to why / how come they weren’t able to pull it off. Does that mean it is off the plans? I doubt it, because I think Kerfoot still owns the land. That said, back to the statement above, negotiating through the press, and making pre-mature announcements, certainly did not help the issue during the last go around, and again, didn’t help w/ New West. Also, why invest 100% in your own land elsewhere, which would require development, when there are municipalities w/ existing facilities that are willing to partner?
~Why should cities invest: first, it is likely a guaranteed revenue scenario, as the club is very likely going into a lease, and likely a multi-year lease. Secondly, there is a residual revenue benefit that is more difficult to quantify, but there is a formula that municipalities use to calculate visitor impact to the local economy. I used to have to complete a boatload of paperwork when I was an executive at Langley BMX. When we’d host a National event, we’d apply for a grant from the City, and that grant was quantified by the visitor impact.
~I keep hearing Empire. Am I the only one that thinks Empire sucks? Seriously, it does. No skytrain access & terrible parking situation. Oh, and the local kids are all too eager to test out your vehicle security system while you are at the match.

You guys have to be taking the piss on Abby? Fcuk me, I live in Langley and I find Abby too far….
At the end of the day, you try to get the best situation you can in any negotiation. I’m hoping that this means the NAP facility will be converted to grass (ironic, considering it is one of the newer turf fields).

I am happy you’ve found another WCFC obsession besides RT. You are healing.

 

[bandcamp]

Huck some bleachers up at UBC on the grass inside the track (they'll have to concede on the track issue)…or convert the UBC stadium back to grass! Can't believe it's turf in there now

 

[cascadesoccer]

Only field I can think of with a stadium and no track is exhibition out in the wack. A ways out but definitely a prime field, at least it used to be. To far out though most likely for the caps.

 

[bandcamp]

Royal Athletic Park, Victoria