Kelowna Sets Sights For CPL Expansion By 2028

The Canadian Premier League has teased a few expansion possibilities in the upcoming years, but you may as well put Kelowna amongst the top of the pile.

This week saw Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas confirm the city has set its sights on Canadian Premier League expansion for 2028, with the city planning to invest $25 million to upgrade Apple Bowl stadium in a bid to attract an ownership group that can launch a Canadian Premier League club when renovations are complete.

If the Apple Bowl sounds familiar, that’s where the Canadian Premier League ran a litmus test league match back in the summer of ’24. Things have been cooking since then, even if it’s been a slow burn.

The project is contingent on finding owners happy to call the Apple Bowl home, with the league having previously considered other locations in the city before locking in today’s plans. Of course, the project will also depend on the city meeting its own timeline of having the stadium renovations complete by 2028.

Amongst the planned improvements include a new grandstand that can seat 3,000, new locker rooms, a new digital scoreboard, a broad centre, VIP suites, and an artificial turf conversion that will help the Apple Bowl host teams through the shoulder months of the CPL season.

It appears that the running track surrounding the stadium is still part of the plan as of right now, harkening back to the inaugural 2019 CPL season at York Lions Stadium – the only other time a track has been present in a permanent CPL stadium. That track was removed and the field expanded following the pandemic bubble season, however.

It is worth noting, however, that the full $25 million of proposed infrastructure upgrades is not a fully secured figure as of yet. The City of Kelowna had budgeted $11.5 million of this through its ten-year capital plan from the sport and recreation budget, with the remainder expected to come in the 2027 budget.

While Mayor Dyas is all-in on the project, one caveat is that the city’s next budget will come after an election this fall. Dyas is running for re-election, but has some heavyweight opponents for mayorship.

“We’ve seen first-hand what tournaments and major events can do for Kelowna,” said Mayor Dyas. “Today, we’re building on that success by advancing long-needed improvements to the Apple Bowl and taking an important step toward welcoming a Canadian Premier League team to Kelowna in 2028.”

This is a project that we broke the news on back in November 2022, when internal league documents prematurely listed Kelowna as a Canadian Premier League location. There has been a lot of pivoting since then, however, though a third British Columbian CPL team is nearing at long last.

“Today’s announcement reflects our shared ambition to position Kelowna as a future home for the CPL,” says CPL executive Vice President Marni Dicker, who was hired with the securing of such infrastructure projects in mind. “We look forward to engaging with potential ownership groups interested in the opportunity in Kelowna.

Canadian Premier League commissioner James Johnson had told media this summer that the league was in the midst of an expansion push, and we expect Quebec City is also making strong inroads after similar municipal backing.

The league boss told fans to expect expansion news for both 2027 and 2028, with Kelowna now emerging as the planned addition two years from now – though the closer arrival is still to be formally determined. With the Northern Super League making strong inroads both both Winnipeg and Edmonton, the league is reportedly working towards a sustainable return to both markets as situations develop in those markets, too.

Canada’s top flight launched with seven teams back in 2019, adding Atletico Ottawa a season later. It then lost Edmonton, added Vancouver, lost Winnipeg, and brought in FC Supra du Quebec to land at eight teams – just one up from its launch number – this year.

Header Image Photo Credit: Beau Chevalier