Vancouver Whitecaps are already on the way to selling out their stadium for their MLS debut in 2011.

With 2,500 current season-ticket holders -- who will each have the right to purchase eight MLS season-tickets -- plus 5,000 MLS season-ticket deposit holders and another 3,000 on a wait-list, the Whitecaps are well on their way to hitting their year-one target of 16,500 season tickets.

The Whitecaps move from Swangard Stadium to 27,000-seat Empire Field to open their inaugural MLS season in March 2011.

They hope that by July 2011, they'll be moved into a more intimate BC Place, which is getting a retractable roof and an internal roofing system to close off the upper deck.

Whitecaps chief Paul Barber, formerly a director at Tottenham, told The Province: "I've been invited to dinner by more strangers in the past two weeks than ever in my life.

"That gives a sense of not only the spirit and the kindness of the people in the city but also their enthusiasm for soccer. But I'm not sure I'd be a great dinner guest because all I can talk about is soccer."