Vancouver Whitecaps are struggling financially due to an unfavorable lease agreement with BC Place, which is owned by the provincial government. The team's ownership is trying to offload the club at the very moment the Whitecaps could capitalize on the World Cup to expand their local profile. Whitecaps executives say they cannot compete financially with the 29 other league clubs because of the lease agreement. Without new local owners, the team could relocate to a U.S. city, leaving Vancouver FC of the Canadian Premier League as the area's highest-profile competitor. The Whitecaps have been the second-best team in North America, but they have been the last team in revenues in the MLS. The team has reached the MLS Cup playoffs in eight of their 11 seasons, including advancing to the 2025 final. They are also four-time defending Canadian champions. BC Place, home of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, has not worked out financially for the Major League Soccer team because of the unfavorable lease agreement. The Whitecaps might depart if owners cannot find a local buyer. Stevedores Simon Fida and Dean Massignani, who live in Langley, represent the deep passion for Vancouver football, having followed the Whitecaps in all their iterations since the late 1970s. Their unwavering loyalty was supposed to be repaid this summer in the midst of a golden age for British Columbian soccer. The Whitecaps — the closest team to most Whatcom County fans — have emerged as one of Major League Soccer's premier clubs just as BC Place prepares to host seven FIFA World Cup games. But for Fida, Massignani and all those who follow the Caps and Vancouver soccer religiously, the convergence of the team's success and the men's World Cup Canadian debut has left a bittersweet taste. "We have a World Cup, and our team might leave," Fida lamented.