Bulls and Bears: How the Whitecaps, FIFA Congress Dominated News This Week
What began as the prerogative of putting the 15-year-old MLS franchise up for sale in December of 2024 has morphed into an existential crisis for the Vancouver Whitecaps. The team's potential relocation has become a major story, coinciding with the FIFA Congress held in Vancouver.
Bulls of the Week
High-water mark television and streaming ratings continue to grace the NHL and the NBA as week two of the playoffs transition to the second round this weekend. Building on bracketology, rivalry marketing, and shoulder-to-shoulder scheduling again this year, dividends are being paid off for both hockey and basketball. Among the big winners are the Buffalo Sabres, who have led the NHL in regional television ratings, up 31 percent, and are among the hottest tickets in the league, with individual sales up 82 percent year-over-year.
It is also another milestone week for the business of women's sports, with Sportico projecting that the WNBA will go into the first season of its new collective bargaining agreement with the highest value to revenue ratio in North American professional sport, a multiplier of 13.6. That is just in front of its NBA brethren at 13.5 and ahead of the NFL at 10.3, the NWSL at 9.8, and Major League Soccer at 9.2. The NHL is sixth at 8.4, Formula 1 at 7.6, and Major League Baseball at 7.2. It is a completely new landscape for women's sports on both sides of the border.
Bears of the Week
Relocation, or even simply the threat of relocation, is the underbelly of the business of sport. It is the dark side of professional sport ownership, especially in this era of high-stakes stadium financing, spikes in media rights deals, and big jumps in franchise valuation. Ultimately, it is a heartbreaking process for loyal fans who literally love their favorite team, and it hits as hard when you are eight as when you are 80. Yet that is where we are in Major League Soccer when it comes to the Vancouver Whitecaps.
What began as the prerogative of putting the 15-year-old MLS franchise up for sale in December of 2024 has morphed into an existential crisis that has Whitecaps fans worried about the prospects for the franchise, especially its future in Vancouver. Concern increased multifold this week on news that MLS has struck a sub-committee to contemplate the Whitecaps situation, including potential relocation. By mid-week, 30-year-old Grant Gustavson, one of the heirs of the Public Storage empire, elevated the crisis by submitting a bid to buy the team and move it to Las Vegas. More than any previous media statement or strategic leak, that simple act was fuel to the fire for the relocation rumor.
It has potentially set up one of the more bizarre relocations in the history of North American professional sport: a team moving in the middle of two of its best years in MLS franchise history, with growing attendance that is trending toward the top three in the 30-team league and is being energized by a crown jewel ambassador named Thomas Mueller. If the Whitecaps do leave, at the height of their popularity, it will leave a big hole in the local sport marketplace.
