BC Place, Vancouver — Stadium Almanac

📋 QUICK FACTS

FULL NAME

BC Place

NICKNAME

The Big Top (a nod to its old air-supported dome and the marquee-like crown of its retractable roof)

OPENED

19 June 1983 (first sporting event 20 June 1983: Vancouver Whitecaps vs Seattle Sounders (NASL), before 60,342)

CAPACITY NOW

54,500 (full upper-and-lower-bowl configuration)

ALTITUDE

3 m / 10 ft above sea level

PITCH

105 m × 68 m · natural grass laid over the usual FieldTurf for 2026

ROOF

World's largest cable-supported retractable roof; opens or fully encloses the bowl

ARCHITECT

Studio Phillips Barratt (original); Stantec Architecture (2011 retractable-roof revitalisation)

OWNER

Province of British Columbia, operated by BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo)

TENANTS

BC Lions (CFL) · Vancouver Whitecaps FC (MLS)

📊 THE NUMBERS

CAPACITY54,500 / 65,061 RECORD

ROOFWORLD'S LARGEST RETRACTABLE

2026 MATCHES HOSTED5 GROUP-STAGE FIXTURES

ALTITUDE≈3 m / 10 ft (SEA LEVEL)

A downtown, sea-level bowl whose signature is its roof: the largest cable-supported retractable roof in the world, able to shut out a Pacific shower or open the pitch to the long northern dusk.

VISITOR SNAPSHOT · VANCOUVER

THE SIGHTS

Stanley Park & the Seawall
Granville Island Public Market
Capilano Suspension Bridge
Gastown & the Steam Clock
Science World (the geodesic dome on False Creek)
Grouse Mountain & the North Shore

THE TABLE

Pacific salmon (often cedar-planked)
Japadog (Japanese-style hot dogs)
Dim sum & Cantonese seafood
Spot prawns (a spring delicacy)
Nanaimo bars

GOOD TO KNOW

Language: English (with a large Cantonese- and Punjabi-speaking population)
Currency: Canadian dollar (CAD)
Time zone: Pacific Time (UTC-7 in June, with daylight saving)
Elevation: Roughly sea level - the stadium sits beside False Creek in downtown Vancouver, only a few metres above the tide line.
Population: About 675,000 in the city proper and roughly 2.6 million across Metro Vancouver.

GETTING AROUND

The driverless SkyTrain runs right to Stadium-Chinatown station beside the ground, backed by SeaBus ferries across Burrard Inlet, an extensive bus network and a very walkable, bike-friendly downtown core.

Traveller's tip: the Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain stop is on the doorstep - leave the car behind, as matchday parking downtown is scarce and dear.

WEATHER BRIEF · JUNE ON THE PACIFIC COAST

HISTORICAL CLIMATE, NOT A FORECAST. Typical June conditions from the climate record - never a matchday prediction.

TYPICAL JUNE HIGH 20°C 68°F

TYPICAL JUNE LOW 12°C 54°F

Vancouver has a mild oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb, borderline warm-summer Mediterranean Csb): wet, grey winters and pleasantly cool, comparatively dry summers. June marks the turn toward the drier season - long daylight, mild days and a fair chance of sunshine between showers.

WHAT TO PACK

🧥 A light layer - cool coastal evenings (down to ~12°C)
☔ A packable rain shell - Pacific showers come and go
🕶 Sunglasses - long June daylight and bright between-shower spells

📜 FILE TIMELINE

1983

Opens on 19 June as Canada's first covered stadium, beneath an air-supported fabric dome; the Whitecaps host Seattle the next day before 60,342.

1986

Stages the opening and closing ceremonies of Expo '86, Vancouver's world's fair on the adjacent False Creek waterfront.

2010

Hosts the opening and closing ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

2011

Reopens after a $514-million revitalisation, the air dome replaced by the world's largest cable-supported retractable roof; the Whitecaps join as MLS tenants.

2015

Stages the Women's World Cup final, the United States beating Japan 5-2 before 53,341.

2023

Draws its record crowd of 65,061 for an Ed Sheeran concert, breaking U2's 2009 mark.

2026

Hosts five group-stage matches at the men's World Cup - Vancouver's first men's World Cup fixtures.