A bit of Canadian news to kickoff a rather ugly looking Friday here in Dallas (overcast and muggy for those who care). The news from up north tell us that the temporary venue for the Vancouver Whitecaps next year is under construction and coming along very nicely.

The facility will open in June with a Canadian Football League game starting things off. The Whitecaps of course won’t be using it until they enter Major League Soccer next spring.

The Empire Stadium will seat 27,000 fans, not bad for a temporary venue. The Whitecaps will play in the venue until BC Place is finished with its renovations. Nothing about the stadium will really impress fans as most of the usual amenities won’t be included. Interesting part is that the venue will cost $14 million.

I hate saying it but it has to be a kick in the gut to fans in D.C. or even San Jose to a lesser extent to see a new club have a temporary venue like this and then move into a renovated stadium like BC Place when they’re struggling to get a stadium deal of their own going.

One of two things could happen next year when the Vancouver MLS team joins in the fun (along side Portland of course). Either BMO the main sponsor of Toronto FC drops them to sponsor Vancouver or they decide to sponsor both.

Honestly looking at it the latter of the two will likely happen. Thanks to a WVH reader Ethan for sending in this link earlier (the bit I’m referring to is at the end of the article). Vancouver is already looking for a kit sponsor to go on their new adidas jerseys next year.

Lenarduzzi said BMO -a major Whitecaps sponsor -wants to bid on the team’s MLS jersey sponsorship.

“I think they have really liked the success they’ve had with Toronto FC and to have that exposure in both the east and west would be good for their brand,” he said.

BMO looking to expand their footprint as a sponsor in Canada and in MLS is a good thing though I know some in Vancouver are hoping for an even bigger sponsor to rival Seattle’s jersey sponsor X-Box 360. Seattle gets about $4 million a year from that deal with Microsoft, while Toronto only brings in between $1 and 1.5 million from BMO.

Maybe a bidding war for their jersey sponsorship would be a fun thing to watch for the new club.

We learned earlier this morning about Portland’s stadium upgrades that will soon be coming but what about their MLS expansion mates Vancouver? Well it turns out they probably won’t be playing in BC Place right away in 2011 but instead will be in a temporary venue.

They will (along with CFL side BC Lions) play at Empire Field’s temporary stadium as seen above.

The temporary stadium is expected to seat around 26,000, with covered stands, and will also feature luxury suites.

Yes, this is a temporary stadium. Honestly I don’t know the location of this stadium in regards to downtown Vancouver but damn this seems like a good option to have for Vancouver, even if it will be playing on FieldTurf (yes another new club coming in with that stuff).

I won’t lie either, this temporary digs looks better than some current stadiums in MLS.

“We are fully behind continuing the Whitecaps name,” said co-owner Jeff Mallett.

In fact they will keep the name in any league that they have a club in according to Mallett, even in the new breakaway league called the NASL.

The Whitecaps are also set to reveal an updated logo and uniforms next May as well.

My bet on this news means the club is looking quickly to get a kit sponsor for their new jerseys next spring before they enter MLS, similar to what Seattle did before they came in this past season.

Honestly I think its a great idea to keep the tradition alive here with the name. Seattle did it and from the looks of things Portland will do the same.

In a radio interview in Montreal, Alex Papadakis confirmed that neither of the Canadian based clubs would be part of the USL for the 2010 season after the two sides failed to reach an agreement for continuing play next season and that the TOA was ready to move in another direction.

“The negotiations are finished,” Papadakis told CKAC.  “We decided to continue our preparation for the season 2010 with the teams which wished to remain with us.”

“I would like to thank the two Canadian teams, the WhiteCaps and the Impact, for all that contributed to the USL for the past few years,” Papadakis told CKAC.  “They were excellent for our League and I have much admiration for them. Now, I wish them good luck in their future plans. “

With the Whitecaps scheduled to join MLS in 2011 you have to wonder what Joey Saputo and his Impact will now do. More than likely they will make a serious push for a MLS bid.

Neither club has announced anything of this news on their websites and apparently according to the report the Impact are still selling season tickets for next season.

There is also a thought that Montreal could still join whatever league comes out of the TOA, possibly a MLS-2 for some daydreamers out there. But the more you look into Montreal the more you got to believe they will be a MLS club before long.

Today’s hot rumor is that they will pair up with gaming giants EA Sports for a kit spnosorship deal. Bobby Lenarduzzi was recently asked about the possible deal and you can tell he is very hopeful that something could get done for the club.

“Interesting you ask about EA Sports,” said Lenarduzzi. “We believe there’s a natural connection between our sport and their games, and there have been initial talks, very preliminary, but that’s something that both sides will have to look at.”

The rest of the article (linked here) also mentions things the Whitecaps hope to do in MLS that in a way mirror what Seattle has been able to successfully do so far in the league. Get a good kit sponsor, sign some big-named local talent, and lastly sign a big-named foreign star to bring in even more fans.

We all know the blueprint that is out there for a successful MLS club both on and off the pitch. Hopefully new clubs like Vancouver get serious about using that said blueprint.

If you ask me I don’t see any reason why Vancouver won’t follow in the footsteps of Seattle and Toronto here. It just makes sense that they will.

Also, if they get EA as a sponsor it would be really bad ass.

“There are a lot of things we need to make decisions on,” he said. “The Whitecaps name has a lot of equity. There may be people out there that think it may need to be something other than that.”

Still, gaining entry to North America’s top soccer league marks a personal victory for Lenarduzzi, who played for the Whitecaps when they won the North American Soccer League Championship in 1979.

“I honestly didn’t think that there would be an opportunity to recapture what we had back then,” he said.

More than likely this won’t matter much. Seattle faced a similar issue going into their name picking a while back. If enough fans are in love with the Whitecaps name then you can believe they will remain the Whitecaps once they join MLS in a couple years.

Lenarduzzi sounds like a very passionate man too. He also stated he believes the club will do better than both Canadian rival Toronto FC and Cascadia Cup rival Seattle Sounders FC. He like the idea of Vancouver being able to out sell both cities in terms of season tickets.

“There is no doubt in my mind we are a better soccer market than those two,” he said. “I am excited about the prospect.”

It’s certainly possible in a soccer crazy market. I like the lofty goals by Lendaruzzi. Maybe they will come true.

Vancouver has beat out remaining finalists Portland, St. Louis and Ottawa for one of the two 2011 expansion clubs. Portland and St. Louis are the favorites for the remaining bid, with various reports identifying Portland as the favorite to join Vancouver (more on that in a bit thanks to some emails from Portland).

You can follow today’s expansion announcement here.

Excited for Vancouver? Or just happy to see this fun run come to an end here?

Two sources requesting anonymity said this week that Greg Kerfoot, the reclusive Vancouver businessman and owner of the Whitecaps, was negotiating the final details of an agreement with MLS commissioner Don Garber.

The new MLS team would replace the existing Whitecaps club, which competes in the less prestigious United Soccer League’s First Division. The new team would take the name Whitecaps and begin play in 2011.

Yesterday, Dan Courtemanche, MLS vice-president of communications and marketing, said the league hopes to announce its two successful applicants by March 31. He added that an announcement could still come before the MLS season begins on March 19.

Funny how it looks like the league could be pushing their announcement back to after the start of the season for the two bits. Earlier it was going to be before the season kicks off next week but now it looks like by the end of the month.

Back to Vancouver though. The more I read into this the more I really begin to like this Vancouver bid. The city loves it’s soccer and the fact that there is no other big-time sports league to compete within the city really opens my eyes to the bid even more. Plus the history and rivalry with Seattle makes it pretty sweet as well.

Vancouver was quiet all along in this expansion process with very little hicups along the way. I guess slow and steady does win the race after all.

The article also brings up another point that the league could be working behind closed doors to help a bid get in if they are struggling with the expansion fee.

But the source added that MLS is well aware of the financial times and would be willing to discuss a method in which successful bidders could pay the fee over a longer period.

To me that sounds like St. Louis but I won’t go into that at the moment. A lot depends on Portland this week. If something falls through there I could see the league getting a deal done with St. Louis. Just a hunch.

They want their fans to come out in full support and will be issuing “MLS rally cards” that will include instructions on how to help the city land the expansion bid for 2011 in MLS.

“This Sunday at 7:00 p.m., the Whitecaps host Minnesota Thunder at Swangard Stadium and are encouraging all soccer fans, and everyone who wants to bring more major league sports to the Lower Mainland, to play a role in helping the club secure an MLS franchise for Vancouver.

“Everyone who attends the match this Sunday will receive an MLS rally card with instructions for their participation during the match. Video and audio recordings of the fans will become part of the official Whitecaps MLS bid submission. In addition, fans are also encouraged to sign up online at whitecapsfc.com/mls to show their support.”

Sounds like a neat idea but I still think they may be a bit off the pace in regards to a couple other bids out there right now. But money speaks to leagues like MLS and if they do indeed have some good financial backing they could easily move ahead of some other cities out there.

I wouldn’t be shocked to see the other two USL cities (Portland and Montreal) try to do a similar type of promotion to get their fans more interested in the expansion process here in the coming weeks as the MLS deadline of October 15 looms near by.