Go Figure: We kick around the numbers on soccer as BC Place prepares to host Lionel Messi

Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s match against Inter Miami on May 25, featuring (fingers crossed) Lionel Messi, is shaping up to be the biggest footy fixture at BC Place since the FIFA Women’s World Cup final in 2015 and a foretaste of seven scheduled Men’s World Cup games in 2026. Here we take the pulse of the local soccer scene.

• Capacity for the WFC-Miami tilt: 54,500 midfield tickets have been advertised for resale on StubHub for as much as $7,830
• Notable nights under the dome:
  • June 20, 1983 – Whitecaps vs. Seattle Sounders, the  stadium’s first sporting event, attracted 60,342 spectators
  • Nov 7, 2007 – 48,172 turn out to see the Whitecaps play David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy
• There are 116,015 registered amateur soccer players in B.C., including 74,129 boys and men and 41,886 girls and women
• It took 45 minutes for pink #10 Messi jerseys to become the top sellers in MLS in 2023 after Messi’s signing was announced last June. The value of Messi’s contract with Inter Miami over 2.5 years is estimated to be worth US$150 million. The estimated MLS-wide revenue increase associated with the signing is US$256 million
• BC Place will host 5 group stage matches—2 featuring the home side—and 2 knockout matches between June 13  and July 7, 2026