The venue will undergo approximately $365 million CDN in improvements before the new MLS team takes to the field, and will have a seamless 20,000-seat soccer-specific configuration.

The Vancouver ownership group consists of Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett, and Steve Nash. Kerfoot is the owner of Vancouver Whitecaps FC and former CEO of Crystal Decisions Software. Luczo is president, CEO, and chairman of the board for Seagate Technology and part owner of the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics. Mallett is part owner of Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants and is the former president and COO of Yahoo! Nash – a guard for the NBAs Phoenix Suns – is a two-time NBA MVP, and along with Mallett, is an investor in Women’s Professional Soccer.

Vancouver will have the second MLS team in Canada following the successful launch of Toronto FC in 2007. Toronto FC has sold out every home game, capped season tickets at 16,000, and has a season-ticket waiting list of over 14,000. Vancouver also has a proven track record of supporting soccer. In November 2007, the Whitecaps United Soccer Leagues First Division team played in front of over 48,000 fans at BC Place when they hosted the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The renovations to BC Place include new seating, concessions, washrooms, hospitality areas, field surface, improved access for persons with disabilities, the redevelopment of all common spaces, and a significant reduction in the building’s energy consumption. The defining features will include the first centrally-hung electronic scoreboard and retractable roof in MLS - an engineering marvel that uses the same technology found at Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt, Germany, which is the home of Eintracht Frankfurt of the German Bundesliga.

(mlsnet.com)