The ongoing saga of the Vancouver Whitecaps has taken another twist.
A potential buyer has made a formal offer to purchase the Vancouver Whitecaps and move the MLS club to Las Vegas, The Athletic reported Thursday.
Grant Gustavson, the son of Kentucky billionaire Tamara Gustavson, is the prospective owner.
“Las Vegas is known the world over as a welcoming destination for millions of people each year and has a growing, passionate community of soccer fans,” Gustavson’s group said in a statement, per The Athletic. “An investor group, led by Grant Gustavson, submitted a bid for consideration to the MLS League Office.
“The investment group will privately finance this endeavour and is not connected to any of the recently announced arena ideas in Las Vegas. In the coming weeks and months, we look forward to the opportunity to share more, however, out of respect for the league’s deliberations and community stakeholders, we are refraining from sharing details of our proposal. We look forward to continuing to work for a positive outcome for the game, the fans, the league and Las Vegas.”
Gustavson, 30, is a resident of Las Vegas and has helped with the NIL program at his alma mater, the University of Southern California.
The latest development comes one day after B.C. Premier David Eby met with MLS commissioner Don Garber. The premier described the talks as “constructive.”
Eby released a video Wednesday night saying the province is “at the table fighting hard” to keep the team in Vancouver.
“We have the World Cup coming, we are a world-class football town — losing the Whitecaps is not an option,” the premier said.
“I saw the shots of the fans out at the rally to save the Whitecaps. We are on the same side; we will fight hard to save our team.”
Hours later, a now-deleted post from Garber’s X account replied: “Liar, liar pants on fire.”
A league spokesperson later said the commissioner’s account was hacked.