Upgrading BC Place Stadium will cost $365 million

[David]

Due to a technical glitch, the most interesting part of that Vancouver Sun article did not come out online. However, it appeared in the Saturday edition of the newspaper.

....The MLS season begins in March, but (David) Podmore said the roof probably won't be finished until the summer of 2011. He said the Whitecaps and the BC Lions could play in BC Place while the new roof is being completed.

"We expect to have the roof operational before the summer," Podmore said. "Then there's all kinds of finishing work to be done, but that won't stop them from using the facility."

SOURCE: Vancouver Sun 1/10/08

DH 8)

[Bobbyp]

I didnt read that article but I did read the announcement. This will benifit the Lions the most for the summer games. I like the fact they didnt mention the Lions cause now all the whiners about the cost of the renos will blame the Whitecaps. Soccers popular cause playing its cheap.... you need something round to kick..... big exspence what country cant afford to play that.

[nelson95]

The roof should have been replaced when it tore

another bullet against the libs come May

this roof change should be delayed until the economy rebounds

I'd hate to see the taxpayers be on the hook for more and the Lions fall into the blame. Don't undervalue the real estate around the stadium just to get this done

we have all survived the summer sauna and can do it for another few seasons

[Bleddyn]

MLS is a joke

40 million US for a franchise?

Do Austrian or German hockey teams pay that for a franchise?

Its low calibre soccer and thats why it will fail in the US

European football (and in most cases hockey) teams are not franchises, they are private clubs. There is a huge difference in how they operate. A club can elect to play in any league or competition for which it qualifies, a franchise is bound to it's league. This means they effectively pay no franchise fee, but it takes years or building and alot of money to get your club into a big league.

The MLS is all show, no substance. Teams like DC United... they just use "United" because many British teams do so it sounds "cool" and "authentic"... no concept whatsoever of what the United means, and that it can't possibly apply to a from-the-ground franchise. The whole league is just a joke facade. The big star Beckham, comes over, draws some cash, his team missed the playoffs and he heads back to Europe to play with AC Milan for what is in truth his "real" season. Smoke and mirrors. The sport will never have respect here until it has a real league.

[Hutch85]

Caps fans are better fans too. On a goal they stand up and cheer and yell like fans should do; Lions fans for the most part remain seated and politely clap

The ignorance is strong with this one. Obviously hasn't gone to a game in recent years.

It will be interesting to see if this really goes ahead if Vancouver can't renegotiate the Olympic Village condo project - there will be all sorts of hand-wringing about that

[David]

The roof should have been replaced when it tore

another bullet against the libs come May

this roof change should be delayed until the economy rebounds

I'd hate to see the taxpayers be on the hook for more and the Lions fall into the blame. Don't undervalue the real estate around the stadium just to get this done

we have all survived the summer sauna and can do it for another few seasons

I respectfully disagree. I believe the torn roof was the catalyst for getting the retractable roof study done. One could argue that research into retractable technology should have been conducted several years ago (when they knew it was nearing the end of its life span), but the tear had to be repaired immediately and they couldn't hastily put a new roof on - retractable or otherwise.

As for postponing this project, well, it does have to be replaced anyway, so why not now? Personally, I don't see the point in waiting even longer than 2010/2011 (by which time the economy will likely have rebounded and material and labour costs will have escalated). The project will result in thousands of man hours of employment when construction projects in the province are really in a tailspin. As for land around the stadium, I don't think there's a dire need to sell it now. It's a crown asset, so why not wait until the economy rebounds and build the towers then?

My concern is more what will happen if Carole James's NDP wins the next provincial election. Her party has been an outspoken critic of the cost of the new roof.

DH 8)

[West Coast Blue Fan]

if Carole James's NDP wins the next provincial election.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

OMG....that's a good one David, my side hurts after that.

Thanks for the laugh.

[Soundy]

the Whitecaps will be playing twice as many home games in there as the Lions will...

throw in concerts... the Lions are no longer just the only tenant in there, which is the way it always should've been...

how does the $ 365 million price tag affect the sale value of the team?

Twice as many home games to half as many fans. What's your point?

DH 8)

Twice as many? You must be kidding!!!

Vancouver Whitecaps Average attendance
1987 - 5,993
1988 - 4,919
1989 - 4,572
1990 - 4,218
1991 - 4,579
1992 - 4,344
1993 - 4,853
1994 - 4,742
1995 - 4,492
1996 - 3,634
1997 - 3,558
1998 - 4,185
1999 - 4,599
2000 - 3,959
2001 - 5,542
2002 - 3,769
2003 - 4,292
2004 - 4,833
2005 - 5,086
2006 - 5,085
2007 - 5,162
2008 - 4,999

Every 4 - 5 games the Caps make up 1 Lions gate. Those might push a little over 10k average the first season or two in BC Place, then decline to the 7 - 8K level. With a few spikes following successful years. We were not able to avereage much better then 20k in the NASL era when the Caps were the big ticket and the league had more then one superstar.

Hmmm...

Swangard Stadium is a 6,868 seat stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia. 4,800 seats are in a covered grandstand and 2,068 seats are located on wooden, removable bleachers.

Of course the Lions have greater attendance - their stadium holds nearly 60,000, and they average (the last few year anyway) close to 30,000 per game. Swangard is a very old (built in 1969), very small, very limited venue, with very limited parking. If you're going to compare their attendance to the Lions, perhaps it would be better to compare percentages of seats available to seats filled, which at a glance would appear to favor the 'Caps.

If you really wanted to go that route, you could also compare to the Canucks, who have reported 250-some consecutive sellouts of a just-shy-of-19,000-seat venue, rather than comparing the fact that the Lions averaged 30,000 to the Canucks' piddly 19,000. Which is a more telling comparison?

Lies, damn lies, and statistics is about all it boils down to.

[Soundy]

The roof should have been replaced when it tore

another bullet against the libs come May

I respectfully disagree. I believe the torn roof was the catalyst for getting the retractable roof study done. One could argue that research into retractable technology should have been conducted several years ago (when they knew it was nearing the end of its life span), but the tear had to be repaired immediately and they couldn't hastily put a new roof on - retractable or otherwise.

Umm... yeah, if they'd done it then, it would have been gone for the entire past season and the stadium would still be a gaping hole now. Good thinking, Nelson. I would have enjoyed trying to watch a game amidst all that crumbled concrete from the walls of the stadium collapsing because a major part of its support - the roof - was no longer present.

There's a LOT of engineering involved in this project, and a lot of changes and upgrades to be made to the structure of the stadium to even make the new roof possible, and they all have to be done with the current roof still in place. It's not as simple as just tearing off the old roof and slapping on a new one.

this roof change should be delayed until the economy rebounds

we have all survived the summer sauna and can do it for another few seasons

Well make up your mind... it should have been done a year ago... now it should wait?

I've give you one thing, you're the master of the shotgun complaint - just blast randomly in any direction and hope you hit something.

[nelson95]

piss off dude

I really don't feel like the Lions getting the blame for the roof costs when Vancouver truly can't afford it right now.

You'd rather a fire sale on that land so the roof can be replaced?

Like I said we can tolerate a couple more seasons in the heat.

[Soundy]

8) :P Missed me! :lol:

[Bleddyn]

Hmmm...

Swangard Stadium is a 6,868 seat stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia. 4,800 seats are in a covered grandstand and 2,068 seats are located on wooden, removable bleachers.

Of course the Lions have greater attendance - their stadium holds nearly 60,000, and they average (the last few year anyway) close to 30,000 per game. Swangard is a very old (built in 1969), very small, very limited venue, with very limited parking. If you're going to compare their attendance to the Lions, perhaps it would be better to compare percentages of seats available to seats filled, which at a glance would appear to favor the 'Caps.

If you really wanted to go that route, you could also compare to the Canucks, who have reported 250-some consecutive sellouts of a just-shy-of-19,000-seat venue, rather than comparing the fact that the Lions averaged 30,000 to the Canucks' piddly 19,000. Which is a more telling comparison?

Lies, damn lies, and statistics is about all it boils down to.

You are forgetting the standing areas as well (alot of people stand, you need to if you want to drink beer). It was mentioned in the same Wiki you quoted:

In the past, it has hosted home games for the Canadian Men's and Women's soccer teams in Olympic and World Cup qualifying. In some cases, crowds in excess of 10,000 have witnessed games, with many of the fans standing.

Capacity there is generally said to be 7500, but as the above shows, they have had more, but the average is always well below the capacity so comparing them to the Canucks who are always sold out, and would probably still do so if they had 25k, is irrelevant.

So we have less then 6k diehard fans in this city it would seem. Put it in a bigger league and that may draw 3 - 4k, maybe a few more at first for the sake of seeing something new, which would put it about the 10k average I said. Doesn't matter what team you compare them to.. you are not suddenly going to get 20k+ consistent new fans of the sport.

[footy]

Why do these treads turn into Soccer vs. !? geez lets just be happy BC Place is going to be transformed into a fun place to watch what ever sports you like.

[Dan_Payne_fan!!]

Why do these treads turn into Soccer vs. !? geez lets just be happy BC Place is going to be transformed into a fun place to watch what ever sports you like.

Exactomundo( is that a word? lol)