daphne bramham: 2026 world cup host costs are rising, but by how much?
opinion: everyone knew that cost estimates for vancouver and toronto hosting the 2026 fifa world cup were wrong and that was before inflation took off. the only question now is by how much?
4 minute read
victor montagliani, fifa vice president and concacaf, speaks at a news conference in miami during a world cup 2026 site visit.
lynne sladky
/
the associated press
let’s be honest. we all knew from the moment that vancouver and toronto were named as host cities for the 2026 men’s world cup soccer tournament that the costs were only going to rise — and not only because of inflation. how much? nobody knows yet.
but there are hints of what’s to come.
inflation has already risen “significantly” since british columbia’s initial cost estimate of $240 million to $260 million for both the province and vancouver, sport ministry spokesperson corinna filion said in an emailed response to questions.
fifa, the international soccer governing body and tournament organizer, provides no money to world cup hosts.
but it has exacting standards for everything, including the natural grass fields that the matches must be played on, security at each venue and fan festivals in each of the 16 host cities.
fifa has already made several preliminary visits to look at b.c. place stadium, potential training fields and accommodations. filion said more are expected in the coming months to detail what upgrades may be needed to the stadium and surrounding site as well as provide “specifics related to fan fests, other celebrations and details on fifa’s hosting requirements.”
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there are two other unknowns that will affect the province’s upward revision of the budget.
first is fifa’s determination of how many matches will be played here. initially, it promised vancouver five or six. but in mid-march, fifa announced the tournament would be expanded to 48 teams from 32 and 24 games would be added.
the second, filion said, depends on how much the federal government is willing to contribute plus “potential legacy and impact initiatives which include tourism marketing and first nation participation.”
to augment the games, fifa insists that for the 39-day duration of the world cup all host cities must hold festivals. at the venues, there must be big screens for people to watch live broadcasts of matches. when no games are being played, there is to be entertainment, local cultural performances, food and activities for both kids and adults.
one possible venue is the as-yet-unbuilt amphitheatre in hastings park. (also, thebreaker.news has reported that the concord pacific site adjacent to b.c. place stadium was shown on the cover of a heavily redacted presentation that canada soccer made to the city).
vancouver council approved the 10,000-seat, hastings park amphitheatre in june 2021. that was before vancouver was in the running to be a world cup host, although it had indicated its interest in hosting the 2030 winter olympics.
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as recently as april, when the model was unveiled, the cost was estimated at $64.8 million. but last week, council was told the revised estimate has jumped 60 per cent to $103.7 million.
that’s a $40-million increase before a single construction worker has been hired or shovels have even gone in the ground.
council unanimously agreed to continue with the project despite the price increase and the pricy upgrades.
the city manager’s report said efforts were made to cut costs. but both the construction and design costs are up at least 30 per cent. there are unexpected “site configuration conflicts.” soil has to be remediated and an archeological impact assessment done. reconciliation is listed in the report as one of the goals of the project.
beyond that, there’s been scope creep, although the report doesn’t call it that. instead, it’s cited as an opportunity to make the site more financially viable for the bargain price of $21 million.
the bigger and better amphitheatre will have four more vip suites (the report didn’t say in addition to what), sound and stage rigging equipment, more dressing rooms, three permanent food and drink concessions including a “full production kitchen, 25 more washrooms, better landscaping, better signs, and an entrance feature.
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the pitch was that within five years of completion, the venue will pay for itself with 48 commercial events (including concerts) held each year and 20 community events organized by non-profit organizations.
but that’s no different than the initial pitch in june 2021 without all the add-ons including the $21 million price upgrade.
it’s possible that fifa is behind this. if it is, nobody at city hall is saying anything about it or about anything world cup-related for that matter.
over the past few years, multiple freedom of information requests have been rebuffed with staff citing third-party interests, or have come back with so much blacked out pages that they’re of little value.
meantime, toronto’s new mayor, olivia chow, is being urged by the canadian taxpayers’ federation to renege on the city’s deal with fifa. it urged her to instead use that money to either provide more money for housing or keep property taxes down.
little more than a year ago, toronto’s council budgeted $93.8 million for “city-only” costs like the fan fest, enhanced transportation, traffic management, local policing and emergency services.
that already more than double the $45-million estimate from 2018 when toronto signed fifa’s host city agreement.
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toronto based those on the assumption that between the ontario and federal governments there would be at least $200 million more. but so far, neither ottawa nor ontario has committed. toronto’s estimated cost without their help? $300 million.
vancouver is in better shape financially, at least on paper. the province is committed and has given approval to the city to offset world cup costs with a temporary, 2.5-per-cent hotel tax that is estimated to raise $230 million between now and 2030.
of course, the paradox of the temporary tax is that while the world cup is supposed to boost tourism, vancouver with its dire shortage of hotel rooms is making it even more expensive and less desirable to visit here.
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