Friday September 19, 2025 | LANGFORD, BC [Posted at 6:30 pm | Updated 10:09 am & 2:31 pm on September 20, 2025]
Sports business analysis | by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The Pacific FC professional men’s soccer club based in Langford is up for sale as announced on September 17. It’s owned by SixFive Sports & Entertainment which also owns the Vancouver FC club that is based out of Langley, BC.
The club is in arrears for several payments to the City of Langford which now could be in jeopardy if the club is in the process of being sold.
That’s aspect of the story.
The deeper picture has to do with how Pacific FC got started as a professional soccer club in the Canada-wide Canadian Premier League in the first place, and the club’s business relationships with the City of Langford that were heavily intertwined with the long-time previous city mayor Stew Young for whom the business of professional and organized sport is a passion.
The City of Langford said in a news release today that it remains committed to supporting Pacific FC (PFC) and ensuring the club’s success in the Langford community. Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson pitched that on local TV this evening.
How things used to be:
However, recent public comments by PFC President Josh Simpson, specifically that the City has not been “exactly simple to work with since Stew left,” are both inflammatory and factually incorrect, the city has stated in a news release today.
To put that in context, it was the way of things that if people had a working relationship of benefit to Stew Young that the former mayor and people around him would take care of a lot of the details. Nowadays, probably the City runs more to process and protocol and with attention to detail.
On Friday (two days after the September 17 comments made by Simpson), the PFC President further stated that PFC hopes for “direct dialogue not public exchanges”.
“We remain open to working with PFC in good faith, but we also have a duty to protect the interests of our taxpayers,” said Mayor Goodmanson.
Why wait so long:
A lot of funds are owed to the City. Why has the City been so patient and let the amounts continue to escalate?
This afternoon in a TV news interview Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson said he hopes for a contract renewal so that the business relationship between the City and the soccer club can continue.
The lease between the City of Langford and Pacific FC is set to expire at the end of 2025. Without a renewed contract it could possibly put the City into a more difficult position to recoup monies owed.
Goodmanson also recognizes the value of a Langford-based team to the overall sport culture and related tourism revenues to businesses and the City.
Meanwhile, if the contract is not renewed, the current Langford council — for any who are planning to run again in the October 2026 municipal election — could be in a tough political spot as to debt owed to the City in part because they’ve been perhaps overly gracious and lenient with the sports club that is a key part of Langford’s community culture now.
The former mayor’s role:
Though this financial pickle for the City could equally put political pressure on Stew Young if (as it is rumoured) he runs for mayor again. It was under his tenure and close involvement that PFC was founded in 2018 and launched with a first season in 2019, during which time all the deals with the city were established.
It was during Stew Young’s time on council that the hydro pole relocation negotiations with BC Hydro were undertaken so that the stadium could be expanded with more seating.
In the years that took to achieve (the pole was finally set up in a new location in March 2023) there was frustration for PFC who could not expand their seating quickly enough to stabilize the club’s finances.
It was also Young’s rationale that building the local PFC club would position the club for benefits during the FIFA World Cup 2026 ramp-up and events. That’s why the training center was built and why PFC was more deeply entwined with community and school sports programming (including Sports Academies with registration fees at SD62 Sooke School District schools) and the installation of sports fields at SD62 schools.
It’s possible that the SixFive Sports & Entertainment owners — who were not local — may have underestimated the attendance limits of launching a professional sports team in a relatively small community like Langford. And the impact of the COVID pandemic (when public gatherings were not allowed) certainly didn’t help the business growth of the soccer club.
Simpson and SixFive Sports & Entertainment also may have overestimated the presumed benefits of having any spin-offs from the FIFA World Cup 2026 games (104 matches over 39 days between June 11 and July 19, 2026). The games will take place in 16 venues throughout Canada (none of which are on Vancouver Island where PFC is based), Mexico, and the USA.
Note from the City:
So, now it is important to the City of Langford that residents and taxpayers be informed of the City’s ongoing efforts and the challenges it has faced in maintaining its partnership with PFC.
“From the outset, the current Council has taken proactive steps to support PFC, including approving the relocation of a hydro pole on Langford Parkway to increase usable space on the north side of the field. Despite these efforts, PFC is currently in arrears to the City for over $90,000, which includes unpaid office rent, stadium rental fees, and game-related costs. Further, PFC has not remitted to the City the $1.00 per ticket service charge for any of its home games in 2025, which is intended to support ongoing stadium maintenance. Additionally, PFC owes $691,477.77 under the Indoor Training Centre agreement, an amount the City has held in abeyance in the spirit of ongoing partnership and to allow for continued negotiations of a long-term stadium use agreement,” as stated by the City of Langford.
“Beyond its financial obligations to the City, PFC also owes more than $24,000 to the City’s field operator and food and beverage provider, both small, local businesses. While all stadium users are required to pay facility rental fees at the time of use, the City has allowed PFC to accrue a negative balance in good faith. Specifically, and rather than enforcing penalties beyond interest for outstanding amounts, such as locking PFC out of the stadium and office space, the City has chosen to honour the partnership and seek solutions that do not negatively impact fans, families, season ticket holders, or sponsors.”
“Unfortunately, PFC has remained largely unresponsive to emails and phone calls to resolve the outstanding debts until it requires a renewed stadium use contract with the City. This is a pattern that has persisted annually since the expiry of the initial five-year stadium use agreement, which PFC chose not to renew for an additional five years at their sole discretion,” the City states.
“In addition to not collecting on outstanding amounts owing, the City has consistently demonstrated its commitment to supporting PFC and fostering a successful partnership. This includes providing free advertising on the City’s digital boards, agreeing to amendments to the stadium use agreement such as increasing PFCs share of advertising revenue to 100%, supplying five portable bleachers at no cost for PFC’s recent game at Royal Athletic Park, and committing to hold a referendum on a stadium expansion, at the City’s cost, once PFC signs a five-year agreement, despite current game-day attendance being well below stadium capacity.”
“Despite these efforts and the City’s continued willingness to find solutions, PFC has been unresponsive and unreasonable in negotiations for a long-term stadium use agreement that balances the club’s needs with the interests of Langford residents. Further, PFC has demanded reduced field rental rates for games and youth rates for practices, despite being an adult, for-profit organization. Such concessions could violate the Community Charter unless equivalent value is returned to the City, and would be unfair to other community-based stadium users.”
Councillor Yacucha weighs in:
In a post on social media this afternoon, Langford city councillor Keith Yacucha highlighted aspects of the business relationship with PFC that are now probably costly to the City — that were exercised in good faith by a new council following in the footsteps of the previous council and recognizing the value of a home-town professional sports team:
- Following through on promises made by the prior administration and finalizing the relocation of a hydro pole to increase usable space at the stadium.
- Agreeing to amendments that give PFC 100% of the Starlight advertising revenue.
- Providing Pacific FC free advertisement space on city billboards.
- Free use of the city’s portable bleachers for their games at Victoria’s RAP.
- Committing to hold a referendum on a stadium expansion at the City’s expense, once PFC signs a new five-year agreement.
“At the same time, we must address significant financial matters. The club is currently in arrears to the City for over $90,000, over $24,000 to the field operator and owes over $691,000 to the city under a separate agreement, which the City has held in abeyance in the spirit of partnership,” Yacucha points out.
“Our goal has always been to negotiate a long-term agreement that is fair to PFC and our taxpayers. We believe that by sharing these facts, we can have a more informed public conversation. The City’s door remains open for productive negotiations,” Yacucha posted.
Mayor Goodmanson’s comments:
“Langford has always been proud to host Pacific FC and support its growth in our community,” said Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson.
“We’ve made every effort to be fair, flexible, and forward-looking in our partnership. While recent comments are disappointing, our priority remains with the residents of Langford and ensuring that public resources are managed responsibly. We remain open to working with PFC in good faith, but we also have a duty to protect the interests of our taxpayers,” said Goodmanson.
The sale process:
“The club remains committed to operating status quo throughout the process,” it was stated in the Pacific FC news release on September 17. However, the current status quo includes a lot of non-payment to the City.
“Pacific’s mission remains unchanged: to deliver top-tier soccer, develop Canadian talent, and continue making a positive impact in the community,” said PFC.
PFC hopes to see that the club “remains competitive, community driven and built for long-term success”.
Next steps:
As noted above, the City of Langford remains committed to supporting PFC and ensuring the club’s success in the community. “However, should the relationship become untenable, the City will take all necessary steps to protect the interests of Langford taxpayers,” the City has stated in their September 19 news release.
That sounds, at least in part, like the potential for rescinding the office space or concession operations space, or making the stadium unavailable for games, or filing financial claims for monies owed.
===== RELATED:
- Two BC-based CPL teams on the same turf (September 13, 2025)
- New Pacific FC managing director is commercial Realtor Ross Marshall (April 3, 2025)
- Historical west shore moment: moving the hydro pole (March 15, 2023)
- New Vancouver FC set up to rival Pacific FC (November 3, 2022)
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