B.C. government reveals costs of hosting FIFA World Cup matches has doubled, may hit $581-million

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The cost for British Columbia and Vancouver to put on seven FIFA World Cup games in 2026 has more than doubled and could reach even higher, eclipsing the latest tally Toronto is expected to pay for hosting six matches, the province said Tuesday.

After months of pressure to release a budget, the B.C. government laid out an estimate that has climbed steadily upward from original ones as a result of the decision to host seven games, not five, and because of new requirements from FIFA. Construction upgrades to the hosting stadium, BC Place, were expected but never before quantified and inflation has also had an impact.

The total cost is now expected to be between $483-million and $581-million, compared with the last figure the province released, $230-million in January, 2023.

Even Tuesday’s lower figure eclipses the most recent forecast for Toronto to host its six games: $380-million. Mayor Olivia Chow said earlier this year that adding an extra game in Toronto cost $80-million and that she wouldn’t have agreed to host FIFA if she had known how much it would cost.

Critics on city council have said Toronto’s commitment has been hard to justify in the face of a housing crisis and annual deficits that led to a recent 9.5 per-cent property tax hike, the largest increase in the past two decades.

B.C. said the costs are expected to be offset by revenues and a federal contribution, leaving the net cost to taxpayers at between $100-million and $145-million. Lana Popham, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sports, said those costs will be paid by the province’s contingency fund but Tuesday’s estimate does not include the economic benefits the province is expected to reap.

“We’ve made it very clear that it’s not a blank cheque. We have to be very prudent with the numbers and FIFA understands that,” Ms. Popham told reporters while flanked by her federal counterpart and representatives of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Msuqueam First Nations.

Ms. Popham and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said they were confident costs could be contained within these latest estimates.

Originally, the City of Vancouver was expected to cover the cost of the games through a hotel tax that went into effect in February, 2023, and was due to last seven years. Now, officials said at a technical briefing the costs of the games will be covered by revenues from the hotel tax, a $116-million federal grant and money from facility rentals and other projects.

Nearly half of the new costs (up to $276-million) will be borne by Vancouver for services such as policing, controlling traffic and building training sites for teams and a zone for fans.

Mr. Sim, who flew to Qatar to watch the previous World Cup shortly after he took office, called hosting the games a “no-brainer” that would be like a “month-long commercial” for tourists around the globe to visit his city.

“We are literally hosting 30 to 40 Super Bowl equivalents in the City of Vancouver,” he said of the global TV viewership of these games. “Over a month-long period, you gotta figure a lot of people are gonna fall in love with our city when they see it.”

The provincial government is expected to cover up to $109-million for extra transportation, health and security costs. The provincial Crown agency PavCo, which operates BC Place, will cover another $196-million to host the games and complete extensive upgrades to the stadium built four decades ago.

Todd Stone, an MLA and House Leader for the Opposition BC United Party, told reporters in Victoria Tuesday that he was concerned the official estimates for the games have skyrocketed in the past year. He also called on the province to honour its promise to release the agreements signed with FIFA so that there is complete transparency.

Earlier this year, Ms. Chow announced Toronto’s costs to host six games would amount to $380-million, up from a forecast of $300-million.

While a redacted version of Toronto’s contract with FIFA was made public through freedom of information legislation, the City of Vancouver has repeatedly refused to release equivalent details.

According to the Toronto contract, that city has agreed to grant FIFA tax exemptions, protect its brand, allow it to sell advertising space in fan areas and co-ordinate any World Cup-related news briefings or information with the organization. Toronto has also promised beautification such as “covering and decorating” construction sites likely to be seen by fans and soccer officials, and to let ticket holders and accredited media use public transit for free.

Ms. Popham said FIFA has also made demands in B.C., though no one from the organization was at Tuesday’s tour of the facility and press conference. She provided no breakdown of how FIFA’s demands had added to costs or how much money the organization is expected to make from the matches.

“There are definitely requirements that FIFA has, but we have the ability because of the partnership that we built, to have discussions when things come up,” she said.

PavCo recently hired a construction manager and analysis is under way to determine what upgrades are needed to BC Place.

With a report from The Canadian Press