Can Kelowna support a professional soccer team? The mayor thinks so

After a successful trial match in Kelowna, the Canadian Premier League is considering the city as an option for a new professional soccer franchise. Thousands of soccer fans came out to watch Vancouver FC play against Calgary’s Cavalry FC at the Apple Bowl on June 16, and now the City of Kelowna is looking into what it needs to do to have a team of its own. Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas is optimistic about the probability of Kelowna getting a Canadian Premier League team after 6,200 people came out to the match on Father’s Day. “It was cold outside, but it was pretty warm in the Apple Bowl that day, just with respect to the way that everybody welcomed it to our community,” Dyas said. “Everything is pointing in the right direction to look at having a franchise within this community for the 2026 year.” Laura Armstrong with the league said they're considering a franchise in Kelowna as part of its 2026 expansion. READ MORE: iN PHOTOS: Thousands came out to the Canadian Premier League’s first match in Kelowna https://infotel.ca/newsitem/in-photos-thousands-came-out-to-the-canadian-premier-leagues-first-match-in-kelowna/it105258 “Part of the reason that we brought the CPL on tour earlier this summer was as a feasibility test to see if we were going to get the reaction that we wanted from the market and we did. It was a great turnout,” she said. City staff are communicating with the CPL to prepare a report about Kelowna’s facilities and the other criteria needed to support a sports team like local business sponsors and community interest. “I'm hoping that we're able to have the report at the beginning of December for public knowledge,” Dyas said. The details about where a team would play, who would own it, and other specifics aren't clear until the city can evaluate and prepare its report. Once the report is finished it will go to the city council to decide on pursuing the next steps to coordinating a professional soccer team in the city. Dyas said this is part of a larger effort to expand Kelowna’s sports and entertainment scene to bolster the economy outside of summer. “The nice thing about soccer is that it starts in April and goes all the way through until the end of October, almost into early November. During those summer months when our community would be extremely busy with potentially other items, the games would be able to be scheduled in other communities,” he said. READ MORE: Kelowna on the hunt for new Prospera Place manager https://infotel.ca/newsitem/kelowna-on-the-hunt-for-new-prospera-place-manager/it106015 As Kelowna’s population grows, so does the demand for sports and entertainment. Dyas said increasing Kelowna’s capacity for big events like professional soccer matches helps support local businesses. “We recognize that there is a need to pull other forms of entertainment and more within this community because there is a value associated with allowing businesses to sustain themselves,” he said. He said the roughly 4,000 attendees at the Denim on the Diamond music festival over the Labour Day long weekend showcased how drawing a crowd can benefit the city. “The diversity of individuals that it pulled into our community and how prior to the concerts, during the concerts and after the concerts, that traffic funneled to many different areas of the downtown,” he said. As city staff look into bringing in a soccer franchise, the city is working on improving the Rockets’ home arena Prospera Place, and has created two task forces to find out how to bring in more shows and business events. “The Kelowna Community Theatre Task Force is going through the process of evaluating what needs we have within this community for entertainment,” Dyas said. “Do we look at getting to the point where we build more of a conference centre, so larger types of corporate functions can also come here?” The mayor encourages residents to email recreation@kelowna.ca mailto:recreation@kelowna.ca with their input on sports and entertainment in the city. To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas mailto:jtomas@infonews.ca  or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .