On April 22nd, 2026, Vancouver Mayor, Ken Sim pitched a motion to city council that would start the process of identifying and evaluating potential owners to bring an MLB (Major League Baseball) team to Vancouver. 

 Mayor Sim said, “Our office has been approached by serious proponents regarding a potential bid for the MLB” this isn’t exactly out of left field, as Vancouver has been in talks for years as a potential expansion franchise for the league. 

In kind of a shocking turn of events, the council approved the motion with all but one counselor in opposition. Counselor Orr said he did not vote to approve the motion because the mayor would not clarify what parties were interested in bringing a franchise team to Vancouver. In addition to this, Orr brought up Vancouver’s inability to keep hold of their NBA team, The Vancouver Grizzlies, and the uncertain future of the Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS that only seems to get more dramatic each day. 

I mean, he’s kind of like Oscar the grouch, but is he wrong?

The cost to bring an MLB team to the city would be astronomical; we’re talking about big league numbers here. The proposal has something looking at north of $4 billion for expansion fees alone, and then an estimated about $1.5 billion for a new stadium as despite venues such as BC Place and Nat Baily Stadium, Vancouver does not have a stadium suitable for an MLB team. 

This has led to concerns from the locals. Even though it was stated that the city will prefer private funding with no plans for taxpayer dollars will go toward the stadium, skeptics doubt that the cost will be able to be fully covered without it. There’s also the belief that the funds could be spent in better places. Vancouver already has affordability issues and a housing crisis, a new stadium could put further strain on traffic and transit congestion and could potentially take away from land that could be used to develop more housing. 

On a more positive note, even though it is way ahead of the time to do this, the most fun part about getting a new sports franchise is the speculation of the potential name. Here’s a couple that have fans the most excited. The Vancouver Spirit Bears, the Lumberjacks, and the Pacifics. 

Regardless of the end result, the potential of an MLB franchise coming to Vancouver is an exciting time across the province.