#SaveTheCaps movement has expanded

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A couple of days ago, I wrote about how the Vancouver Whitecaps could potentially move, and that there was a fan movement to save the team from a possible relocation. Well, that movement has picked up a whole lot more steam since then.

Since the writing of the original article, the movement on social media, #SaveTheCaps, started. Originally what was just an online petition for fans to sign to voice their need to keep the team in Vancouver has exploded into a fervor that has been picked up by other team’s fan bases in the MLS.

The original problem is still the same. The ownership group that has owned the team announced in 2024 that the team was for sale, but it is looking more and more like the CEO Axel Schuster is listening to U.S. investors that have the ulterior motive to move the team to a big American city. Some of the cities that rumors have surrounding the move include Detroit, Sacramento or Indianapolis.

All of these rumors about an American investor are despite the promises from the CEO to look for a local buyer. It also comes amidst the MLS Commissioner and Axel Schuster saying that the current situation at BC Place as unsustainable due to the lack of control over concessions and parking revenue during game day, as well as the high rent cost for the stadium itself.

In terms of the fan perspective, fans have been showing up for the team in a way that they haven’t before this movement. Just before their game on April 25th, fans marched outside of BC Place to make sure their voice is heard for keeping the team in Vancouver. Over 20,000 tickets were sold for the last game before the MLS World Cup break, the first time that tickets sales have broken that mark so far this season.

The team, for their part, has been showing up as well. Currently, the team is currently second in the Western Conference, only behind the San Jose Earthquakes. In the nine games that they have played, Vancouver has only dropped one game, scored a total of twenty-five goals and only given up five.

The team is currently on a tear, beating up teams in the league and showing up as one of the strongest teams in the MLS for the second year in a row. As long as fans keep showing up, and proving that they want the team to stay, hopefully a local buyer will step up and keep the team in Vancouver.