The B.C. Lions are entering the 2025 season with plenty of on-field questions, but the franchise’s greatest uncertainty is where that field will be located to start 2026.
Vancouver is one of 16 North American cities set to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with seven matches scheduled to be played at BC Place between June 13 and July 7. The games coincide with Weeks 2 through 5 of the CFL season and with potential set-up and takedown requirements, the team expects to be without their home venue for as long as six weeks.
With a month-and-a-half-long road trip not viewed as a viable option, the Lions are on the prowl for a temporary home.
“We’re taking a hard look right now at how do we go to a different market and do a couple of games in that market against opponents that would have a good draw and do sort of like a Touchdown Pacific game, but maybe not on the island, maybe in the Lower Mainland,” said Lions president Duane Vienneau.
“We’re talking potentially in the interior, we’re not ruling out Victoria yet either — we had some great success at Touchdown Pacific. It’s really about finding the stadium or the situation where we can build the right size stadium to make it work.”
The Lions have recent experience taking their show on the road, hosting a showcase event on Vancouver Island in each of the past two years. A sell-out crowd of 14,727 packed into Victoria’s Royal Athletic Park for Touchdown Pacific in 2024, while a 2025 pre-season game at Rugby Canada’s Starlight Stadium in Langford attracted a capacity crowd of over 6,000. However, neither venue would be easily adapted to accommodate a multi-game home stand, highlighting a challenge present across the province.
There is no ready-made alternative in any major B.C. city that could host the Lions without significant modifications. The Apple Bowl in Kelowna and Hillside Stadium in Kamloops, where the Lions host training camp, have both been floated for showcase games in the interior but can only hold a couple thousand fans as is. The same is true for SFU’s Terry Fox Field, while Willoughby Community Park in Langley can currently host 6,600. Swangard Stadium in Burnaby and UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium have each supported over 10,000 in the past but nothing remotely close to a regular-season CFL crowd.
It’s been 15 years since the Lions last saw themselves temporarily booted out of BC Place, when roof renovations rendered the stadium unusable for all of 2010 and half of 2011. On that occasion, PavCo, the crown corporation that operates the venue, used a portion of its provincial government funding to finance the construction of a temporary venue on the site of old Empire Stadium. The project took three months and cost $14.4 million, accommodating 16 CFL games over two seasons.
A similar strategy on a smaller scale could be deployed during the World Cup, so long as equivalent financial support is made available for the team. After the provincial government and PavCo pushed for FIFA to come to the city, that would seem like a realistic expectation but the Lions won’t be heavy-handed in their approach.
“We’re going to need funding support and it can come from various areas. It can come from the provincial government, communities, tourism agencies, etcetera, but we’re trying to go in and say, ‘Listen, we just generated almost $140 million of economic activity last year,’ with Grey Cup being $122 million and (Touchdown Pacific) was $17 million. We’re saying, ‘We have a pretty good track record of this,’” Vienneau explained.
“Let’s go to a market and build a stadium that maybe holds 20,000 people, bring in a couple of teams in there — maybe Edmonton, maybe Calgary back-to-back with a festival in the middle — and generate $60 to $70 million of economic impact. That’s a win for everybody and not just saying, ‘Hey, listen, we’re getting kicked out.’ That’s not our approach.”
If a temporary stadium is the ideal scenario, it would make financial sense for the Lions to remain in the Lower Mainland and avoid further disruption for their season-ticket holders. The site of Empire Field is no longer an option after it was replaced with multiple community turf fields, but there could be other locations with potential long-term benefits for the franchise.
In particular, the idea of a new stadium has been a hot topic in Surrey, where the Lions currently practice. Though the municipal government appears to have pivoted towards the construction of a 12,000-seat arena instead, political opponents have argued that isn’t enough for B.C.’s second-most populous city. A temporary venue playing host to several CFL games could provide proof of concept and potentially aid in the Lions’ quest to get an upgraded training facility included as part of any future project.
Nevertheless, the team isn’t ruling out any municipality as an option quite yet and will go wherever they can be best accommodated.
“Like everyone knows, we pride ourselves in being B.C.’s team,” Vienneau said. “An opportunity like this — it’s challenging not having your building for six weeks, but how do we make the best out of that challenge and build something that’s going to outreach and build more fans across this province? That’s really what we’re trying to do.”
Whether the Lions opt for the expansion of an existing venue or the creation of a new one, the CFL will be watching any developments closely. With the Toronto Argonauts also set to be displaced by World Cup games at BMO Field, the already difficult task of creating a 2026 schedule has become a veritable Gordian knot.
“The 2026 schedule is right at the front of my desk, along with the team that works on those logistics. It’s going to be challenging. We’re going to have to figure out where the Argos will play, where the Lions will play, and how we’re going to work that schedule over the course of the summer,” CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston acknowledged.
“I’m looking forward to being part of a sports celebration in 2026. We are a massive sport when it comes to summer sports, particularly, and I think there’s going to be an incredible vibe across the country. We’ll have to figure that out. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re going to get there.”
The Lions will open their 2025 season on Saturday, June 7 when they host the Edmonton Elks at 7:00 p.m. PST, following a pre-game performance by rap icon Snoop Dogg. Depending on how everything works out, the next kickoff concert may be rocking in a different venue.
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