The city’s stadium and minor league baseball field will get upgrades.
The Barons of Baseball, the Major League Baseball owners have gotten their way again and this time it is taxpayers in Vancouver, British Columbia that will have to pick up the tab to renovate the city’s existing stadium to bring the minor league baseball stadium up to Major League Baseball owners’ standards. Vancouver city officials have not answered how much of the bill taxpayers will foot for the $20 million Canadian renovations at the 73-year-old stadium which houses the Toronto Blue Jays’ Class A Northwest League Vancouver Canadians. The Vancouver team is Canada’s only minor league baseball franchise. Vancouver, which is the third biggest Canadian market and one of the most expensive cities to live in, has had a low-level minor-league baseball team since 2000, Vancouver prior to that hosted a Triple A franchise. Vancouver has been mentioned by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred as a city of interest for a possible expansion franchise as about 2,600,000 people live in the market.
Vancouver has two major league franchises, the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks and Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps but that does not mean that Vancouver is not a big-league city. The Vancouver market hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics and will be hosting some FIFA Men’s World Cup matches in 2026. The city’s 41-year-old stadium, which is the home of the Canadian Football League’s B. C. Lions and the MSL’s Whitecaps, will again undergo a facelift. More than $500 million Canadian was poured into the structure about 15 years ago. The stadium’s fixed roof was replaced with a retractable roof. FIFA is demanding renovations for its 2026 event and Vancouver taxpayers will pick up the bill for creation of stadium VIP lounges and hospitality boxes along with the redevelopment of food and beverage areas and restrooms. Just the cost of doing business in Vancouver.
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