Halford & Brough in the Morning - Are The Whitecaps Getting A New Stadium?

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason look back at a weekend of mixed results for the Canucks (3:00), they boy discuss a potential new Whitecaps stadium at the PNE (11:00), plus they get more on the possible new 'Caps arena, as long-time Vancouver sportswriter Bob Mackin (26:05) joins the show. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Music 95 career goals! 703 on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Who was that? That would have been Islanders radio, right? We've had the guy on the show before. What's his name? I'm forgetting this now. Sounded like a Muppet. Zace. It did. Well, it did.

Like, you know when Kermit's like yeah I know who the Muppets are pal. I know but Kirk Kerman specifically, you know Oh Yeah, I got high-pitched He surpasses his record Hey piggy Alexander Ovechkin, 895 career goals! Hey, piggy. Oh. Oh.

He is never coming back on the show again. His arms waving, frailing. Greg Pickert, I think his name is. Well, we'll never have him on our show again. I hate doing this now, but if you Google it, Islanders Radio PXP, the third result that comes up is a subreddit. The Islanders Radio PXP guy sounds like Mickey Mouse.

Is that, I don't know. It's out there. Mickey Mouse. Yeah, I think he's more of a Kermit. Anyway, great call. They have similarities. Ovi goes over Gretzky. Oh boy.

All right, you are listening to the Haliford and Brough show for some reason on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help. With over 3,000 five-star reviews, visit sans-trustee.com. I will tell you right now that I am going to mangle that read because I'm not going to be able to do dash trustee I'm gonna say dash trustee. Okay repeatedly But it's not it's dash Trustee Sean's dash trustee don't confuse the issue calm

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Vancouver Canucks played twice this weekend, by the way. Didn't talk about it in the first hour of the program. Gonna do it now, though. Saturday, definitely the better of the two days for the Vancouver Canucks, a 6-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, in which the Vancouver Canucks set a franchise record for the fastest five goals at any point in a game four minutes and 30 seconds to turn a what was

a 1-0 lead for the Anaheim Ducks into a 5-1 advantage for the Vancouver Canucks. It was also the first goal for D. Petey in that five goal barrage and then yesterday the Canucks kind of came crashing back down to earth with a 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights a game in which it actually was probably closer on the scoreboard than it was in reality or at the very least on the shot clock and shot counter Canucks marching closer and closer to being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yesterday put them one step closer a 3-2 loss to Vegas on Sunday night at Rogers Arena. I have a request for the Canucks. Yeah.

Just give Quinn Hughes some less ice time. Yeah, we don't need to do this anymore. Quinn Hughes played almost 27 minutes last night. By the way, in this extended ice time for a very clearly not 100% Quinn Hughes, it hurts me as a aficionado of the plus minus. He was minus three last night. Quinn Hughes is now a, what do you call it when a player is zero in plus minus? Even.

Even? Yeah, yeah. He's an even player. It's not a plus player. It's not a minus player. He's an even player now. He's zero. Is that par? I don't like it. It's not befitting of a reigning Norris trophy winner.

Why did he play 22 minutes and 36 seconds against Anaheim when the Canucks were up 5-1 in the first period? That's a great question, Jason. What's going on? I know this isn't a big deal, but I'm trying to find things to be interested in about these. I'm trying to find things to complain about. Final few games I didn't watch on Saturday.

I looked at my phone and I was like, oh, good for them. They scored some goals. Watch last night, kinda, but it was out of the corner of my eye. I was mostly focusing on prepping for other stuff during the show and they lost with a few minutes left and I was like, hm, well. You can give me Nicole's version of yesterday if you like. Well, well, like it, you know. And give you Nicole's those versions of yesterday, if you like. Well, no, I don't really want like, I know they beat the ducks and they lost to Vegas. And I'm kind of with, I know Yannick Hansen was on the show last week.

And he said, or on the station last week, and he said, like, you don't learn anything as an organization from these meaningless games. So, you know, whether, you know, is Atu-Ratu playing some good hockey? Yeah. Does he still have some things to work on defensively? Yeah. We saw that, I guess, in the Vegas game.

Um, I have liked what some of these young guys have brought, but it was funny. I texted Murph last night during the intermissions. I was like, I'm Murph last night during the intermissions. I was like, I'm getting Benning era vibes from these segments. And I kind of joked like, and I put in quotation marks, you know, can Marcus Grandlin build on this season? You know, like it's kind of like, it's like that type of question time where- What did we like from Griffin Molino tonight? Yeah, right. You know, that sort of thing. That sort of thing. Look, they're going to have these conversations because

you got to and you got to fill it with something. But for me, my focus on the actual games, I'm very much in my head just to get to the after season press conferences and let's hear what you guys are saying. But I really do think like stop playing Quinn Hughes so much. No, I'm with you on that. I know they will probably say, they'll probably say until we are officially eliminated, we're going to be trying to win these games and the coaching staff can come out and say, I'm going to try and find out who's 100% in or who's 100% not. I was like, that's cool for you, but whatever. It doesn't really hold my interest.

Yeah. Part of this is I thought we were past this as a people and as society, the meaningless games down the stretch. I thought that we were, we had moved past this and last year brought so much hope and optimism that brighter days were ahead. And now we are sort of back in a Benning era-esque funk at the end of the season where, I mean, I listened to Rick Tuckett's post-game media availability

after the 3-2 loss to Vegas. And he was talking about the important reps that Victor Mancini and DPD were getting, young players getting to cut their teeth at the NHL level. And I was like, we're back here again. We're doing this after a year in which you guys were one win away from going to the Western Conference finals. We're now talking about young guys getting their reps and learning their trade, which I don't love. I'm with you. I would love for this to be over and for them to get to the offseason which also has similar vibes to previous lost seasons.

The Canucks once again fell short of their goals. There was way too much losing for everybody's liking and most worrisome as other off seasons of years past where they missed the playoffs there's a ton of uncertainty about the future and what that future is going to look like. So there are going to be some residual tremors, like fear, like, ah, this is all too familiar. It feels too familiar. And that's exactly the position that the franchise is in going into a very profound and

again, very uncertain off season. So honestly, I'm ready to table the Canucks talk until we talk to Kevin Woodley because, and we're going to talk to Kevin at eight o'clock. And the next little bit of the show, I would like to talk about something that very much has my interest. And I was thinking about a lot over the weekend. And that is that the white caps are reportedly eyeing Hastings race course for a new stadium. Let it mark down the day, April 7th, 2025, Jason Brough willingly pivots off Canucks Talk to talk Whitecaps, bracket, stadium.

I love stadiums. He loves stadia. That's the plural of stadiums. So when it was revealed, I guess a few months ago now, that the Vancouver Whitecaps ownership group was looking to sell. I was not optimistic about the future of the team in this city. They had one year left on their lease at BC Place and everyone knows and everyone will acknowledge, except maybe BC Place, that BC Place is not an ideal

venue for MLS and the league is growing and the whitecaps are very much at risk of being left behind in a league where a lot of the teams, most of the teams play in soccer specific stadiums and have control of those stadiums. Actually get some money from food and beverage sold at those stadiums.

And, um, you know, you and I kind of talked about, well, is there a chance that they could get a new stadium done? And we're like, oh man, like a new stadium in Vancouver. But where? Like that's going to be real tough. And on this show, we've talked a lot about, you

know, what is the future of the P&E site? Because there used to be a stadium there. Well, there was an actual stadium there, Empire Stadium, then there was a temporary stadium there that the Whitecaps played at and the Lions played at and a lot of people quite enjoyed that experience. Um, so why don't you kind of catch us up on the

story and then, because I've got so many questions and I'm not, I'm a little more optimistic but I think there is, like I don't want everyone's hopes to get up too much quite yet. Sure, so on Friday night, late Friday night as a matter of fact, the Vancouver Whitecaps issued a statement, which they said was responding to media inquiries about their conversation with the city of Vancouver to build their own venue at the P&E fairgrounds. The Whitecaps announced that they had already begun exploring the idea with the city. I don't know what media inquiries caused them to, I mean, I would consider like a sort of hastily put it, not how people put out press releases at 6.30 on a Friday night, but the Whitecaps did it. The day following, Whitecaps CEO and sporting director, Axel Schuster, who we've had on the

show a number of times, confirmed everything and added a little bit more context to it. If you want to parse through what he said, he confirmed the reporting, he kind of reiterated what they said in the release on Friday and then kind of had the addendum that this is all still part of the sale process, that what might end up happening is that the buyer that comes in either will be granted the add-on to the memorandum of understanding that the club has

with the city, depending on how far along they get in talks, that will be presented to the buyer. But Axel also throughout, like maybe there will be other options as well about the potential for building elsewhere. I don't know if that's feasible or realistic or what have you.

I think the key was, is that Axel said, whatever the case, the point of the sale and our commitment is to keeping the team in the city of Vancouver. And this would go a long way into doing that. Yeah. He said for us, it's being on the right path to have an option for a next potential ownership group.

So like you said, the plan is still to sell the white caps, but they want to get the ball rolling on a new stadium. And obviously that would help them sell the team and keep the team in Vancouver. So many questions though. How much public funding will this require? And that includes getting the land for the stadium.

Um, you know, the city owns the P&E site. How quickly could they get this done? A deal I'm talking about, not the stadium built, but a deal. Yeah. They only have a year left on their lease at BC Place. I'm sure they could, you know, renegotiate a lease or sign a new lease for, I don't know, however long it would take to build the stadium. Yep. And speaking of BC Place, if the Whitecaps leave, where does that leave BC Place?

And could this all be just a negotiating ploy to get a better deal out of the province, which owns BC Place? That's maybe, a maybe. And I guess for the skeptics in the cynics out there, and I'm an old skeptical, cynical man. Not you. I was a young skeptical and cynical man too.

That's true. Could this all just be show or foreshow so that the politicians get the blame when the team moves? Are you suggesting it might be performative, Jason? I have seen this happen before. Like we tried our best to get a deal and these politicians, they just don't seem interested in playing ball, so we're moving.

Here's some more questions. What's the plan for public transportation if they build a new stadium at the race course? How much of a fight could the race course put up? What would, you know, They got horses out there. Yeah. Right? They do have horses. That could be the transit. That could be the transit.

They can employ the horses. You're thinking about it. I like it. What would housing advocates say about using a massive piece of available land for a soccer stadium instead of affordable housing in a city that's dealing with a crisis when it comes to housing. In my dream world, this is Jason Bruff's Sports in Vancouver dream world. A real candy land. I see the P&E site totally redeveloped into a massive entertainment and housing complex. Maybe some restaurants, grocery store.

Groceries, we hear this word more and more, it's kind of an old-fashioned word, groceries, still a good word though. It was funny, I drove by the race course on Saturday and it was a beautiful day on Saturday and at the risk of offending any listeners who still love going to the track. Okay. I love you guys, but I couldn't help but think, do we really need a race course in this city taking up prime land? Vancouver has changed a lot since that course opened in the late 1800s. And that site as a whole has so much potential. The views of the North Shore are incredible. If you're at that race course

and you're looking, it's a beautiful sunny day. That's my backyard, man. I'm down there, yeah. And you're looking out at the mountains, you're looking out at the water. It's beautiful. God's country. I was looking at some of the other development plans that MLS has had and NYCFC.

New York City FC. Always have trouble with that. They've been trying to get a new soccer specific stadium done for a long time. They've been playing in Yankee Stadium for way too long. Yankee Stadium. Way too long. And they've always said, Yankee Stadium isn't going to be ourkee Stadium. Way too long. And they've always said, you know, Yankee Stadium isn't going to be our long-term home, but we've

got to figure out a stadium. They finally got it done and it's a project that will include 2,500 affordable housing units, a school, a hotel, retail commercial space, 40,000 square feet of public open space on a 23-acre lot. And the mayor, Mayor Adams, he got into trouble a little bit. I'm familiar with him. At the time, he proclaimed that this would be, quote,

the city's largest 100% affordable housing development in 40 years, and it has a soccer stadium. Yeah. Doesn't that sound great for the P&E site? Here's the problem. Yeah, now tell them how long it took. Here's the problem. That is a huge project and the amount of time and work it required was immense.

There were all sorts of delays and challenges to overcome. They had to displace businesses. You're out. Affordable housing advocates were critical of the plans. They wanted more. There was even concern, and I'm not kidding you here, about the future of like 100 feral cats. And people were like, well, what about the cats? Oh, those cute cats. I just want to interrupt. When you sent that along, I thought that was a joke you put in the notes, but it is not. There was a bunch of cats. This is just the type of thing that comes up when you're working

through all the issues. The process to develop that piece of land actually goes back decades in the New York area. And they also had to bring in some big development companies, like some big dogs that could put together, um, a deal that side and had the kind of the experience and the institutional know-how to do it all. Um, you know what they say, a lot of stakeholders, don't you love that corporate buzzword

s- stakeholders. So you've got the housing advocates are stakeholders because they want some affordable housing. The developers are stakeholders because they want to make money. You've got the people that love the cats. And you've got to make a deal with the team. So there's all these things that have to come together and they finally did. And the Whitecaps, you know, like time is of the essence. Why don't you get this team right now? But what happened to the cats? You have to.

Well, they haven't started the build yet. That's the other part of it. They gave them what's going to happen to this. They ended up giving them a massive condo. Oh, nice. And they all live together. Cat condo. Yeah, yeah.

Cool. Yeah. The developers were like, all right, fine. You win, feral cats. You win, cats. So this very grandiose plan that's going on in New York, I think it's more of an example, anecdotal evidence of how difficult large, I mean, that's more of an urban development, I would say, than just a straight stadium built. But as you say, you know, aim high, aim high Willis, like go for it all. And if the Whitecaps do go down that road or if it just is a soccer specific stadium,

whatever the case, Friday was the first bit of optimism that a lot of the supporters had had in a long time, basically with regards to the future of the team. And I think there was a lot of consternation and hand-wringing when the sale was first announced, that Goldman Sachs was taking it over and they were going to explore. I think a lot of signs pointed towards relocation

just because people followed the logic of it all. I mean, they don't own, the Whitecaps don't own their stadium. They don't own the practice facility. What's keeping them down? If someone was to come in and buy, where would it go and what would it be, what would it look like? They don't own their stadium. They don't own the practice facility. What's keeping them down? If someone was to come in and buy, where would it go and what would it look like?

Could the Whitecaps offer free transit from BC Place? Like they do, for example, a cap suspension bridge, just a bunch of free buses that run back and forth in their new stadium in BC Place? I would look. It is difficult to get out there for a lot of people. That's one of the major blocking points. I would say that the transportation

is probably pretty low on the list of things that they need to address or that are of massive concern right now with regards to getting people to the area. I understand that transportation is an issue, and it was when they played at Empire back in the first season. They put him on the cart before the horse. Yeah, there's a lot of other stuff here.

All due respect to the transportation issues. Like that's really far down the list in terms of like priorities that need to be addressed when it comes to- Where are people going to park? Yeah. I mean, there's, if you want to go down that road, that's fine, but I think there's a lot more high level issues, conversations, everything else that go into it rather than transportation. But from an organizational standpoint, it is the first bit of optimism.

I understand why you said like, you're going to be, you know, cautious about getting your hopes too high and you know, you've got a lot of questions and that's fair because all. We haven't heard from the city yet. No, I know. And that's a, that's a, that's a big deal. And all we've really heard was a very brief

statement from the club and then essentially a was a very brief statement from the club. And then essentially a reiteration of that statement from the sporting director and CEO. And like, let's not forget, like Axel Schuster is the spokesman and representative of the club, but his job is like football operations. Like he's just relaying the information. Like this is a high level ownership decision.

And this is, these are conversations that are going to happen between, as you mentioned, high level stakeholders within the club and of course the city, and we've yet to hear from the city. There's a lot of people texting in with their political opinions about affordable housing. That's not what this is about. This is about all the challenges. Live in reality. The challenges, if they're going to build a stadium at the P&E site, and it's going to be part of a bigger development maybe of the P&E, which we don't even know what it would be.

What we're just trying to express is all the things you have to overcome in order to do this. You know, like it's a massive job. The Whitecaps themselves will admit we're only at the beginning. They've essentially got a memorandum of understanding to talk more. Yeah. I just want to jump in though. I do just want to jump in. From our perspective as two guys that have lived in the city and covered sports for 20 plus years and are deeply ingrained in all things sport and Brough's love of stadium, this is really fascinating and it could be a huge thing,

huge thing from like our perspective in sport, regardless of whether you even care about the white caps. Like having a new facility of that size and of that magnitude going in where it might go in and what it means long-term is it's a huge thing. It's a massive build. We haven't had one of these in an awfully long time. So I can understand that people like Bort texted in,

this is the worst segment in Halford and Brough history. Like I get it, I get it. It might not be your thing, but it's not going away. And the fact that even just that small snippet of news was able to generate the amount of interest and intrigue that it has non-bort division. Like it's something that I cautiously, I am optimistic. Like I hope that this goes through.

And I understand the roadblocks and the amount of red tape and the politics involved in it. And if we have to wade through it, so be it. But this is a pretty profound moment, not just for that organization and the white caps and MLS within the city, but I think it's got way more wide reaching implications. And yeah, we are gonna continue to talk about it.

However, on the other side, we're gonna try and defer to someone who probably knows a little bit more about the inner workings from a political sphere. Bob Mackin from The Breaker is going to join us. He wrote about the news on Friday from the Vancouver Whitecaps, and he's got some additional details that we can add about the talks between the Whitecaps and the city of Vancouver for the new stadium. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro.

From conference rooms to kitchenettes and everything in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected. For a free quote, visit JanPro.ca. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks Talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. 734 on a Monday. Good tune, laddie.

Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program, right at the midway point of the show. Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at Jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at Jason.mortgage.

Sounds like a show Brough would watch. Yeah. I'm trying to imagine what kind of show it is. I don't even want to trample over the song. Maybe a hospital? Show about a hospital? Showing the outside of the hospital right now? A little too cheery. If there was a 1970s show based on Griddle Me This, you were a restaurant owner.

This is your Griddle Me This theme song. Maybe some sort of taxi dispatch? What about a high school? Could be a high school show. Teacher at a high school? A little too slow. Yeah. Okay.

Bob is waiting patiently on hold right now. Joining us now. Approaching you, librarian. Oh, you're not done. Okay. Joining us now on the line from the Breaker to talk a little bit of the Whitecaps news with a potential new stadium. Bob Macken joins us here on the Haliford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Good morning, Bob, how are you? Good morning, Mike and Jason. So over the weekend, Friday night to be specific, news broke, courtesy of the Vancouver Whitecaps, that they are in conversation about the potential construction of a stadium at the PNE Fairgrounds site. I'm curious to ask you, Bob,

when did you first catch wind or hear rumblings about the talks between the Whitecaps and the city regarding a potential new stadium? Well, this goes more of a circuitous route because I, like most people heard about it on Friday night, however, instead of enjoying the nice sunset Friday night, I ran back to my computer because I had known since 2023 and have

reported on it before that there were some talks by a different group looking at turning Hastings race course into a smaller soccer stadium, possibly for a Canadian Premier League team. And I called some of my sources quickly on Friday night, some of my sources who are closer to the matter as well as in the horse racing world. The horse racing world, this is news to them, but the other source told me exactly what was going on, that there was a memorandum of understanding between the Whitecaps and the City of Vancouver and P&E. P&E is an arm of the City of Vancouver, arm's length, but it is governed by the City of Vancouver, ultimately responsible to the City of Vancouver, arms length, but it is governed by the city of Vancouver,

ultimately responsible to the city of Vancouver, even though it's a non-profit, that there were talks and there's a memorandum of understanding to explore Hastings Racecourse as the site of a potential new soccer stadium. This would bring everything back full circle, because of course Empire Stadium opened in 1954 for the British Empire Games, was the home of the Lions first, then the Whitecaps from 1974 to 1983, before the Whitecaps moved downtown to BC Place Stadium. BC Place Stadium was originally proposed

in a different iteration for the P&E grounds. Back in the late 1970s, Erwin Swangard was looking at the P&E, looking at the Empire Stadium as a bit of a declining asset. They didn't want to put any more money into it and thought, well, hey, we could build a multiplex stadium on the P&E grounds close to where the agrodome is. Back then, of course, 1970s,

many cities around North America were building these multiplex stadiums to host multiple sports and trade shows and concerts all under one roof. And the Bill Bennett government, the Bill Bennett Socrates government, and one of their key people who's still around, Paul Manning said, well, why not look at downtown as a whole package? Put the stadium in downtown, they ended up putting it at Falls Creek near SkyTrain and near the Expo 86 lands. And since then, BC Play Stadium doesn't make money every year, but however, it has been a catalyst

for what has become downtown, a forest of condo and office skyscrapers, one of the most dynamic downtowns in North America. So the stadium became a catalyst for that. And now years later through different increases in demographics and population sizes in Vancouver, and of course the leagues have changed and tastes of the public have changed.

And horse racing to bring it back to the Hastings Racecourse site, horse racing isn't what it used to be. It used to be one of the public have changed. And horse racing, to bring it back to the Hastings Racecourse site, horse racing isn't what it used to be. It used to be one of the big sports here in Vancouver and Hastings Racecourse dates back to the 19th century. And this could be a chance to turn it into a different sport, but of course, the big question for the horse racing people would be where would their sport go?

And their sport starts again in May, runs for 45 days until October. But horse racing has been declining there ever since, you know, the days when they put in slot machines back in the 2000s, 2008 was when they put in slot machines, they had high hopes there. And it has not proven to be the big boom that they thought it would be and the company that runs Hastings Race Course Breakaiding Gaming decided back in 2012 not to invest more money into the, into Hastings Race Course.

The CEO at the time called it a course racing, a sunsetting industry. So does it, does it mean anything that we haven't heard from the city about this? Like only the Whitecaps have put out a statement and should we expect to hear anything from the city? Because the memorandum of understanding to explore options on Hastings Racecourse sounds to me just like, hey, we can have some more meetings about this. But I think Whitecaps fans are, and fans of just sports in the

city and maybe a lot of other stakeholders as they call them are wondering like, how real is this really? I think it is real for a number of reasons. And I also am interested in the timing of this, that this came out on Friday night, the night before the civic by-election, a by-election where ABC Vancouver did not succeed in getting their two candidates on, and in fact, two left-wing candidates won quite handily in this by-election. And I think that ABC, which runs Vancouver City Hall under Mayor Ken Simm, is looking at different things as the 2026 election comes. And of course, 2026 will be an interesting year with

the World Cup coming. And that's being organized out of the office of Vancouver City Hall. And 2026 is also the year that the new P&E amphitheater opens next door to Hastings Race Course, the new concert venue for about 10,000 seats, you know, the outdoor shed concert venue. So things are happening at the P&E and that's also an interesting one because that was supposed to be about 65 million dollar budget and it's ballooned to more than 104 million dollars and it's slated to be open next year, supposed to be open to be the key venue for the FIFA Fan Festival, which will run throughout the World Cup at the P&E.

But I think this may have been a case of strategic communications that the city of Vancouver, of course, being part of the memorandum of understanding would have been under its own legal limits, perhaps. And this may have been discussed as recently as last week at a City Council meeting. I haven't got that confirmed, but there have been some in-camera meetings recently where they have been talking about land issues and about events. So I think we'll probably hear from it, from city council sometime and city hall sometime this week, but because this came out on Friday

night, the night before the by-election, there may have been some sensitivities there. Um, if the Whitecaps were to leave BC place, um, regardless of whether they moved to a new stadium in the city or relocate to another city in North America, which is certainly that topic has, or that potential has been debated. Where does that leave BC Place?

Well, that's a good question. That would also then transfer the question to the BC Lions and where it would leave them. Because BC Place has served its use, although it's been given more money to be used. There's a $109 million project going on right now to renovate the stadium. FIFA had its demands for upgrades of the stadium for the World Cup. And even though it's going to be hosting just seven matches, they're trying to sell this as a legacy for the stadium to improve some of its features, including the suites. It is still a very viable venue

for concerts and trade shows. I mean, concerts are huge money makers for BC Place. The amount of revenue that comes into BC Place for a one-night concert often eclipses multiple lines and white cast matches. But even though the stadium itself is not a moneymaker, it does bring these events and have employment spinoffs. It would, I mean there have been talks over the years behind the scenes, people who are in the real estate business, one is Bob Renney,

the real estate condo marketer who has for many years kind of shook his head and said, why is the stadium being kept up? Because it's occupying a lot of valuable land that can be redeveloped for housing, for offices, for other amenities. There is the proposal to take down the Vitex next door to open up land there. So I think this would, and then we've got of course the NDP government has imposed its new policies more than a year ago on high density areas near transit stations.

So there can be a case made to take down the stadium and build something else there, but of course who would put the money up for it? And here we are in a topsy turvy economy globally with the Trump tariffs putting everyone's pocketbooks from Joe Average on Main Street to Wall Street and Bay Street in influx and where could this go? So even this proposal that we now know of at the P&E grounds

and Whitecaps looking at Hastings Racecourse and Ray Kerfoot and his group trying to sell the team, there's so many question marks that when could this happen, how could this happen, for that when could this happen? How could this happen? For what price could this happen? And will this be fully privately financed? As I'm told, that's the plan.

How much appetite would there be for anyone in the public, any taxpayer to put a dollar into a sports facility at a time when there are hospitals and schools that are needing upgrades or replacement at a time when public infrastructure projects themselves are being very problematic and increasing in price because of materials and labor and other issues that are often tied to geopolitics. That would be a big thing to sell to the public, thing to sell to the public, but to sell to the public, I think it would be rather easy to sell keeping Hastings race course

transforming into another kind of sports venue and keeping that heritage in that part of Vancouver. Of course, what is also interesting is that Mayor Ken Sim before he was mayor during the 2022 election campaign, he had a photo op there with a couple mayors from other municipalities. At the Easton Racecourse, they weren't there to talk about horses or sports. They were there to talk about SkyTrain in the future. And since becoming elected, the ABC council has promoted to TransLink to try to get TransLink to plan for the future, a future that would include a SkyTrain line either over or under East Hastings with a spur towards the North Shore and maybe North Burnaby.

So if you're going to have that kind of project in the future, what better thing to do than have destinations for it and the peony grounds as they are now, which really only come alive in the summer and a little bit in around Christmas with the winter fair. And of course there's sporadic concerts throughout the year. It's not a 365 day a year public magnet, but having a stadium there would be a magnet. And that could be a way to catalyze a business case

to build a SkyTrain line into that part of Vancouver. And of course, real estate. Vancouver, of course, is a town where we are concerned a lot about housing, housing costs, housing supply, housing demand. And East Vancouver is an area where in the next few decades expect to see a lot more development, identity development. One big development not too far away, not within walking distance, but not too far away is the old liquor distribution branch lands, the Aquilinis and Squamish nation are partners there and they plan to redevelop that and that could be another catalyst for East Vancouver development. So this could take a lot of boxes along the way, but they've got to do it in such a way that it doesn't tick off the neighbors, the neighbors of Hastings

park are very active and care a lot for their neighborhood and care a lot for Hastings Park itself and the park land setting there and its history. And they're also very sensitive to noise issues for instance. So that will have to be a consideration if this goes beyond the MOU stage. This was very informative and there's a lot to unpack there Bob. Thanks for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. We had a lot of questions and you answered an awful lot of them. Thanks again for doing this and maybe we will do this again once there's a further development

on the potential PNE Stadium site. Thanks very much. Have a great day. Yeah, you too. Thanks Bob. Appreciate it. That's Bob Mackin from The Breaker here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. A lot of detail there from Bob, a lot to unpack there. You know, you and I were talking about how much East Van and North Burnaby or whatever, that area around there has changed since we were kids. And, you know, so you grew up, you grew up in Burnaby, right? North Burnaby.

Right close to, I mean, where I live right now is a 10 minute walk away from Empire Fields. They have my adult soccer club. That was our home pitch for years. I spent a lot of time around there. The kids are always down there playing soccer and stuff. So that area I'm very familiar with.

Yeah. And just how much value that real estate has now compared to like 30 or 40 years ago. I probably don't have the verbiage or like to describe how profoundly different the area is from when I was a kid. It's dramatically. Where does it start?

Where does one start? The differences. Um, you know, East Vancouver is, well, there's a demographic change for sure. Yeah. Right. And then, especially, I mean, cause basically growing up in North Burdaby, um, housing prices, especially, I mean, because basically growing up in North Burnaby, housing prices,

like so many other, you know, communities in the lower mainland have skyrocketed, but it, it just, it never had the sort of, and I'll say it like astronomical prices that certain areas in North Burnaby have right now, right? And like anything North of Hastings now, you're looking at, like egregious, egregious is the right word, but egregious sums of money. It's crazy. For houses where when we were growing up,

and I bet Don Taylor could speak to this as well, being a North Burnaby resident, it was a lot more blue collar in terms of the people that made up the demographics and the household incomes were decidedly different than they are now. It's a very, very different dynamic. I've always described going to the P&E as like a step back into old Vancouver. Yeah. And I mean old Vancouver like when I was a kid. I mean the track is a hundred percent that. That's what it is. In a lot of ways when you go, it's a step back in time. And all of it, like it's old, it's dirty.

But the actual P&E too. Yeah, but all of it. It's old and it's dirty. But the actual Peony too, right? Yeah, but all of it, it's old and it's dirty and dusty and grimy and there's a very old school East Van element to it. It is. But it's prime to be redeveloped, all of it. That it is. I mean, there is a beautiful park there and I know that people around that area, like Bob said, take a lot of pride in it, But, you know, I went to an event at the Peony Form.

It was like a big beer garden. It was Oktoberfest. Yeah. And I'm like, how is this still here? It is. What is going on here? Why is this here on this prime land in this hot real estate market.

Yeah. You know? That is- It still looks like it's 40 years ago. I mean, why is the Pacific Coliseum still there? Why is, I know there's minor hockey that's played at the Agridome, but you know, how many times, do they get like 3,000 people out to those games? Like, you know-

Oh, I know. Like, the whole area could be redone and you could still have ranks for minor hockey. In fact, you could build two because I know a lot of the, you know, the minor hockey association that covers that area has a lot of trouble finding ice time. So you could do a massive project at P&E, at the P&E. It doesn't always have to be done at once, at P&E, at the P&E, and it doesn't always have to be done at once, but maybe the soccer stadium, like Bob is saying, could be the catalyst for you bring the SkyTrain out there and then you completely redevelop that P&E area. Is the P&E still going to be a going concern? I don't know. It has a special place in the city, but it's only there for a couple months. See, there's the thing. There is an element of a lot of the older antiquated, and I'll just say

stuff in the area, especially East Vancouver, that gives the area its charm and its soul and its culture and its vibe. There's no denying that. But areas change, man. I know. Areas change. I'm trying to be realistic while, like, can I be pragmatic, but also realistic,

but also nostalgic all at the same time? Because those things do matter in terms of having a city that has history and soul and spirit and culture and all those things. Like part of it is, this has been around for a long time and it remains unchanged because it does have historical value and it does have an emotional attachment to the people that live there. At the same time, for sure. Give me a new soccer stadium. I want one. That would be such a beautiful site.

It'd be gorgeous. For a soccer stadium. I just want to be, I just want to be everything to everyone. I just want to make sure that we're covering all of our bases here on the Alfred and Brough Show. You? No, I mean. Not you. No, but honestly though, like with that area, I think you astutely pointed it out in your notes and then asking the questions of Bob. Like there's a lot of different stakeholders, not using the term like as a joke, but there are a lot of different stakeholders,

a lot of different people that need to be taken into account. That's sort of part of the fabric of that area is there's a lot of different people that are gonna have their voices heard and you're gonna have to, at the very least, hear all those concerns and take them somewhat legitimately and seriously and not slough them off, right? Pete And there's going to have to be some progress made on this in the next little while. Pete Yeah.

Pete Again, the Whitecaps lease with BC Place is up after this season. So, I'm sure BC Place, the BC Place isn't going to be like, well, too bad. You know, that's what Glendale did to the Coyotes, if you remember. But you know, BC plays isn't going to do that. They have a duty to be financially responsible. It's the province that owns that.

And, um, you know, I'm sure they give them a five-year extension or whatever. They're not going to be like, well, I heard you were talking about building a new stadium. So good luck with that. You're out of here, right? They're not going to play like that well, I heard you were talking about building a new stadium. So good luck with that. You're out of here, right? They're not going to play like that. On the subject of BC place, I do wonder, and

we'll never get a straight answer from any of the parties involved, but I do wonder if that motocross fiasco at the end of last year was the final straw. It kind of seemed like it didn't. The tipping point where it's like, we can't keep doing this. Something's got to change because that was

egg on the face of a lot of different people. The Whitecaps BC place, MLS didn't like it. White cabs move and the P&E starts booking motocross. Available dates, fellas. Okay, we're way up against it for time. For those of you that have sat patiently through the first two hours of the program for some Canucks talk, we got you covered coming up next. Kevin Woodley, NHL.com, Ingo magazine is going to join us. And then at 8.30, we're going to do what we learned. Get yours in. What did you learn over the last 72 hours in sports? Let us know. Dunbar Lumbertex line is 650-650. It's your chance to be on the radio. Hashtag it WWL and tell us what you learned over the last 72 hours in sports. You're listening to the

Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet at 650.