Tag Archives: World

A national government spending watchdog wants B.C. and the City of Vancouver to release the costs of hosting the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, warning of an escalating price tag.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation issued that call Thursday (March 14) after releasing the City of Toronto’s hosting contract with soccer’s world body. Toronto will host six games and Vancouver seven as two of 16 host cities spread across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The Taxpayers Federation obtained Toronto’s contract through a freedom-of-information request. The hosting contracts of Seattle and Santa Clara near San Francisco are also publicly available.

“All of these contracts are essentially identical,”…

A national government spending watchdog wants B.C. and the City of Vancouver to release the costs of hosting the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, warning of an escalating price tag.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation issued that call Thursday (March 14) after releasing the City of Toronto’s hosting contract with soccer’s world body. Toronto will host six games and Vancouver seven as two of 16 host cities spread across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The Taxpayers Federation obtained Toronto’s contract through a freedom-of-information request. The hosting contracts of Seattle and Santa Clara near San Francisco are also publicly available.

“All of these contracts are essentially identical,”…

B.C.’s tourism ministry is defending playing host to FIFA’s Men’s World Cup in 2026 amidst research that raises questions about the event’s long-term impact.

A study by German research Christopher Vierhaus published in 2019 in the academic journal Tourism Economics, finds that “surprisingly, hosting the World Cup is ineffective in promoting tourism” in the long-run.

“Although international tourism increases in the event year, this growth is more than offset by the decreased tourism from (one) to (four) years after the event. “

Vierhaus’ study looks whether hosting mega-sporting events like the Olympics or soccer’s World Cup is a useful marketing platform for…

B.C.’s tourism minister said the cost of hosting the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup has gone up, but she is not prepared to share those figures with the public yet.

“The numbers have changed substantially since we have received news of getting two more games (from the initial five),” Lana Popham acknowledged Tuesday (Feb. 27). “(So) we don’t have any working number today to give you but we’ll have that soon.”

Popham acknowledged that she has a “ballpark” figure of the additional costs, but she added that she was not prepared to give that figure right now. Staff are working on final numbers, she said.

“But I will repeat that those two extra games give us a bigger…