Toronto wants to spend $10.7M on World Cup ticket packages and re-sell them for a profit

1 month_ago 11

Toronto·New

Toronto's 2026 FIFA World Cup committee wants to walk astir $11 cardinal connected summons packages for the upcoming games and resell them at marked up prices, with immoderate councillors saying the determination would magnitude to "scalping" with taxpayers' money.

Some councillors accidental program amounts to 'scalping', others telephone it 'a large money-maker'

Michael Smee · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 19, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Toronto wants to walk astir $11M connected luxury container seats for the FIFA World Cup

A spot astatine the FIFA World Cup is 1 of the astir coveted tickets successful sports. As CBC’s Lane Harrison reports, Toronto wants to capitalize connected that popularity by spending $10.7 cardinal connected summons packages.

FIFA controls tickets to the games, and arsenic a big city, Toronto has been fixed the accidental to bargain up immoderate of the packages, which include tickets to the games, entree to hospitality suites and different amenities astatine the stadium, earlier they're made disposable to backstage summons sellers.

The $10.7-million plan heads to assembly adjacent week for last approval.

"We're present acting similar a Stub Hub," Coun. Jon Burnside said aft Tuesday's committee meeting.

"There are definite things governments shouldn't beryllium progressive in, and scalping tickets — which is truly what this is — is 1 of those questionable activities."

Coun. Josh Matlow, agelong a professional of the woody the metropolis agreed to with the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) successful 2022, has besides criticized the outlay, saying it's a motion the metropolis is hopeless to find ways of covering its World Cup costs.

"It's wide that the metropolis signed specified a atrocious woody (with FIFA) that it's been near to person to recoup costs by becoming a scalper," helium said.

Coun. Jon Burnside says he's uncomfortable with the metropolis buying past re-selling tickets, due to the fact that the metropolis could suffer the $10.7 cardinal it wants to walk connected World Cup 2026 packages.

Climbing costs

In June 2022, FIFA awarded Toronto the close to big 5 archetypal circular games positive 1 playoff circular lucifer during the 2026 World Cup. The remaining games volition beryllium hosted by Vancouver, Mexico and the United States.

At that time, the outgo to Toronto was estimated astatine astir $300 million. It has since climbed to $380 million, astir $200 cardinal of which is being provided by the national and provincial governments.

City unit person said preparing suitable venues, inflation, security, and information costs are the crushed for astir of the expenses.

Sharon Bollenbach is caput of the FIFA 2026 Toronto Secretariat. 'There's nary constituent leaving wealth sitting connected the table,' she says of the city's accidental to bargain hospitality packages from FIFA for the 2026 games.

Sharon Bollenbach, enforcement manager of Toronto's FIFA World Cup 26 Secretariat, said it makes consciousness for the metropolis to instrumentality vantage of its accidental to bargain up hospitality suites for re-sale later.

"There's nary constituent leaving wealth sitting connected the table," she told CBC Toronto. "We arsenic big metropolis person the enactment to beryllium selling hospitality packages."

Bollenbach said the secretariat is successful the midst of negotiations with organizations that could beryllium funny successful buying those crippled packages. She said astir 10 of the packages volition beryllium sold by the city, each of them curated to the buyer's needs.

She wouldn't accidental however overmuch the metropolis is asking for the packages, oregon who the imaginable buyers are.

"They could beryllium individuals, but typically the terms constituent that they're at, this is typically corporations...buying arsenic hospitality for their employees, for their clients, to beryllium portion of the World Cup acquisition present successful Toronto."

Move could beryllium a 'big money-maker': councillor

At yesterday's meeting, Coun. Anthony Peruzza asked wherefore the secretariat was lone funny successful buying $10.7 cardinal worthy of games packages.

"This sounds similar a large money-maker to me," helium told the meeting.

Later, Bollenbach told CBC Toronto the metropolis retains the close to bargain much tickets arsenic the World Cup dates gully closer.

Bollenbach said it's not yet wide what the imaginable gross from the Toronto games could be.

That could beryllium connected the popularity of the teams assigned to play successful Toronto, Burnside said, and that docket won't beryllium released until aboriginal this year.

Without knowing which teams volition beryllium playing successful the city, it's intolerable to accidental what the instrumentality involvement volition be, Burnside said.

"We're putting up the wealth without really knowing what the request volition be."