Whitecaps’ owners change course from ‘sale’ to a ‘new partner’

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If you thought that the Vancouver Whitecaps’ ownership group was looking to get out completely … well you’re wrong.

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In the months since owners Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett and Steve Nash declared the club was for sale, everyone around the team was operating under the assumption that someone, from somewhere, would take over as owners, that the hands of financial control would be new ones.

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That is no longer is the case, Mallett acknowledged to Postmedia Thursday morning, following a boisterous introductory press conference for Thomas Müller.

It’s not often that exiting owners underwrite major investments. And yet the Caps’ quartet has done just that in signing Müller, the biggest international signing this club has made since the 1979 addition of Alan Ball.

It’s a major investment in the club’s playing fortunes, and a sign, Mallett admitted, of how he and his partners are looking at their future as owners has changed.

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“We need a partner,” he answered flatly to a question about what the Muller signing means for the ownership search.

“We are willing to stay and bring the knowledge base we have.”

He noted that this is different from how things were presented last December. Then it was, “We’re looking to sell.” But things have shifted, Mallett said.

Now there’s a prospect for a new stadium and talks with the city about taking on the land at the PNE where the current Hastings Racecourse stands.

Having their own stadium, away from the current lease at B.C. Placewould change their ability to compete in the long term in what Mallett termed “MLS 3.0.” But that’s where a new investor comes in. Kerfoot, Luczo, Mallett and Nash need help with building a stadium and funding the future of the club.

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“The stadium being a possibility changed the dynamic of the offering in the market,” he said. At the same time, lead investors Kerfoot and Luczo are looking to reduce the financial burden of ownership.

“They are looking to lessen their load,” Mallett explained. His own stake, and Nash’s, has always been much smaller.

And their ownership future was inevitably a question that came up during contract talks with Müller, and what they told Müller about the situation caused no concern for him.

“He liked what he saw,” Kerfoot said.

And so their search continues. They’ve had a number of intriguing enquiries, Kerfoot admitted. Some have even had hands-on tours of the Whitecaps’ facilities.

But if a sale is imminent, Kerfoot wouldn’t say.

We remain in the proverbial “watch this space” era.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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