CF Montréal are under new ownership pressure after Joey Saputo began a formal process to sell the Major League Soccer franchise. The Montreal Impact founder said the decision was deliberate rather than driven by urgency, but the possibility of a move away from the city remains part of the discussion.
Saputo said he wanted the next owner to keep the club in Montreal, but was blunt when asked about relocation. He added that the process is not tied to a set timetable, and gave no asking price.
MLS approval and investment-bank led sale
The sale will be run with MLS involvement and the club’s investment bankers. That matters because MLS franchises are not like typical single-entity assets: any buyer has to meet league requirements and get the green light, meaning the outcome will likely depend as much on ownership fit and long-term plans as on valuation.
Saputo has also signalled that football operations could change. He acknowledged CF Montréal have been among MLS’s lower spenders, and said the next owner must “start spending in line with some of the other teams”.
CF Montréal owner, Joey Saputo, said:
“This decision is neither driven by urgency, nor dictated by circumstance,”
“It’s the result of a careful and deliberate reflection on where we stand today, and more importantly, on the opportunities that lie ahead for the club. I will not discount the club to the point of just giving it away just for the sake of giving it away,”
“If an owner comes in that doesn’t have the capacity to keep the club at the level that it needs to be at, and to spend the money that needs to be spent in order to bring in the players that this city wants to see, then at that point I’m not doing anyone a favor by selling it to someone just to keep it here.”
That is a key point for supporters, because a change at the top often drives recruitment budgets, wage structures and contract ambition—particularly in a league where competitive margins can be tight.
Stadium reality after Montreal’s winter concerns
CF Montréal own Stade Saputo, a ground with capacity just over 19,000. Saputo’s wider remarks also highlight an ongoing Montreal-specific challenge: MLS’s shift to a winter calendar raises practical questions about playing outdoors in Canadian winter conditions. While the club’s matchday identity and fan culture are rooted in the city, the relocation angle becomes harder to ignore when considering how franchises are valued and what buyers might prefer in a league-wide scheduling landscape.
Since Saputo’s expansion-era involvement, MLS ownership stakes have surged dramatically. The Sporting Kansas City majority sale this year was reported at a valuation around $700 million, while a share of the Columbus Crew was said to have gone at roughly $900 million. CF Montréal have also been estimated as among the league’s least valuable franchises, at around $435 million, underlining why this sale could attract serious interest.
There is also a wider Canadian undertone to the market. Vancouver, another Canadian MLS club, is understood to be in a sale process, and Montreal are now joining it as buyers weigh potential relocation options. Cities discussed as candidates in the broader MLS landscape have included Phoenix, Indianapolis and Detroit.
For fans, the immediate impact is that nothing changes on the pitch until a buyer is agreed and approved—but the coming months will be crucial in determining whether CF Montréal can close any gap in squad investment and whether Montreal remains the destination for the franchise’s next chapter.
