Vancouver Whitecaps fans hold signs before an MLS match against the Colorado Rapids in Vancouver on April 25.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
British Columbia Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon says the government has been approached by a local group that wants to buy the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The potential B.C.-based bid for the Major League Soccer team comes after the announcement of a formal offer by a U.S. group to buy and relocate the team to Las Vegas last week.
Kahlon told reporters in Victoria that the B.C. group has been organizing for a few weeks, calling it “a positive development for Whitecaps fans and of course for the province.”
He says the group is doing “due diligence” and understands it will be sharing more information soon about the bid that is “grounded in a plan to keep the team” in B.C.
Kahlon, who is a longtime Whitecaps fan and season ticket holder, says the group contacted his office but wasn’t seeking any help from the province.
A group led by billionaire businessman Grant Gustavson announced last week that it had submitted a bid to Major League Soccer to buy the Whitecaps that would include a privately financed, soccer-specific stadium in Las Vegas.