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The City of Toronto is now looking to charge for tickets to the 2026 FIFA World Cup fan festival, despite previously promising access to the event would be free.
The event in Fort York will have space for as many as 20,000 people, who will be able to watch live matches and performances, and sample food from around the city.
In a news release issued in May 2025, the city billed the festival as a “free and inclusive space for residents and visitors to connect through the power of sport.”
The city now wants to charge $10 for general admission, $100 for a “VIP tier 3,” $150 for a second-tier VIP ticket and $300 for a first-tier VIP ticket, according to a staff recommendation before the executive committee Wednesday.
City staff are seeking council approval to spend $9 million more to improve the fan experience and increase security at the festival, but doing so would push the cost beyond the $380 million budget. The proposal calls for the city to use ticket revenue to partially offset the expenditure, according to city documents.
“Ticketing actually gives organizers and emergency services better data to plan effectively,” Toronto Mayor Oliva Chow said while speaking to reporters Wednesday.
“The worry is if it’s free. I think that was conversation: how many people would show up? Would it be, would it overwhelm the area?
Toronto is gearing up to host six matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026. CBC’s Alejandrina Alvarez breaks down what we know so far — from game times and last-minute tickets to how the city is planning to deal with an expected surge in traffic.
Chow noted that the city has given grants to organizations like BIAs to hold events celebrating the tournament outside of the downtown core. That would give the fans other ways to take part in festivities.
The ticket revenue is expected to generate about $6.2 million of the $9 million expenditure, with the rest of the money being made up by a $900,000 contribution from FIFA and $1.9 million from other funds earmarked for the tournament.
Ticketing criticized for making tournament less accessible
The motion is before the executive committee, which is a group of councillors who, along with the mayor, debate matters before sending them to council for final approval. Councillors on the committee will get the chance to question staff about the recommendation at some point during the meeting.
Councillor Brad Bradford, who has declared he would like to succeed Chow as mayor after the October election, doesn’t support the proposal.
“[A] family of five, that’s 50 bucks to go to the FIFA World Cup,” Bradford said to reporters at city hall Wednesday.
“Most families are not going to get access to the stadium to actually be able to see the soccer in person. So the fan fest was really the opportunity to make it more accessible for Torontonians,” he said.
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