Vancouver mayor pushes for MLB expansion team

Vancouver’s mayor is putting his city’s name in the running for an expansion Major League Baseball franchise, but commentators say it will still be a long shot for a team to land in British Columbia.

The reaction comes after Ken Sim said Tuesday that he is bringing forward a motion in council on April 22 that aims to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to the city, in light of the league recently broaching the subject of expansion.

Sim said the motion, if passed, will direct city staff to “launch an expression-of-interest process to identify a qualified ownership group” capable of advancing a bid.

“An open, transparent, and competitive process ensures we identify a capable partner with the ability to deliver a team that works for our city,” Sim said in a statement, describing the process as allowing for the exploration of “a potential new franchise in a thoughtful and responsible way.”

Sim’s pitch comes after MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told Sportsnet during an interview in October that another Canadian city in the league could work when he was asked about possibly adding a team in Vancouver.

The mayor added the process would need any interested ownership group “to demonstrate financial capacity, experience, and a clear plan to support a successful team.”

Vancouver “has a strong sports culture and a proven track record of supporting professional teams,” Sim said. 

“This is an opportunity to bring something truly special to Vancouver,” Sim said, calling an MLB franchise “a significant step forward” for the city.

B.C. Place Stadium hosted several MLB exhibition series between 1984 and 1994, featuring the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners and Montreal Expos. However, a $500-million renovation in 2011 — including a centre-hung scoreboard and a cable-supported retractable roof — made the 54,000-seat stadium less suitable for baseball.

Commentator and former professional sports executive Tom Mayenknecht said while he loves that the city is “thinking big” when it comes to professional sports, it remains a long-shot for Vancouver to return a second MLB franchise to Canada after the Montreal Expos moved to Washington in 2004.

The lack of a stadium is among the issues, but Mayenknecht said the first problem is finding ownership able to afford an MLB franchise, as the San Diego Padres are on the market in the US$3—4 billion range.

“So, you add the franchise fee — and (that’s) a significant big ticket item there — plus a new stadium for Major League Baseball, the list of Canadians who could make that happen is a very short one,” he said. 

“It almost certainly would have to be a consortium type ownership to bring Major League Baseball to Vancouver.”

Mayenknecht also said there’s the question of long-term viability of a franchise in Vancouver, with 81 home games needing to be supported by fans and corporate sponsors.

He noted that Vancouver is fighting to keep Major League Soccer’s Whitecaps FC as that team faces uncertainty over a long-term home beyond BC Place.

“If a Major League Soccer franchise can’t command sufficient corporate partnership and corporate sponsorship revenues, it would be even harder to do for an MLB team or an NBA team,” Mayenknecht said.

“Not saying it can’t be done if Vancouver continues to grow, especially because of its position as a Pacific gateway city. But right now, it’s not the most, let’s say, golden of pathways to economic growth and certainty.”

No change can happen to Major League Baseball’s alignment until this December, when the current collective bargaining agreement expires.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2026.

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