No World Cup bump for Vancouver's tattoo parlours, but there's hope

Josh Burns, a.k.a. Burns the Dragon, a street performer on Granville Street, is celebrating record-breaking crowds at his show with a soccer-ball tattoo on June 21. The tattoo artist is Nasrin Shafiee at the Robson Piercing & Tattoo Studio. Photo by Denise Ryan /PNG

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In a backroom at Robson Piercing and Tattoo Studio, Josh Burns, also known as Josh the Dragon, is stretched out, getting a soccer ball surrounded by a heart inked on his leg.

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The Granville Street busker, who has been doing brisk business fire-breathing and sword-swallowing and managing the boa constrictors tourists can pose with for $10, is celebrating. Not soccer, so much, he explains, but everything the World Cup brings: “Yesterday I had my biggest audience ever, 1,200 people.”

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Across Vancouver, tattoo parlours have displays offering flash tattoos: soccer balls, soccer balls embedded in the Maple Leaf, flames or a whitecapped wave and, of course, the ‘Cup’ (not FIFA trademarked, of course), anticipating that the crowds might want some ink to remember this World Cup.

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Although tribute tattoos and ink commemorating wins, games and, of course, Messi, are part of World Cup culture globally, business in Vancouver has been a little slower than anticipated.

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At Adrenaline Tattoo on Granville, store manager Amanda Crane said their artists have done a few — one soccer mom came in for a soccer ball wreathed in flowers — but they aren’t seeing a bump in business like the local bars are.

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There are more people outside than inside the tattoo parlours on the Granville Street fan zone.

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All that could change if Canada does well at the highly anticipated Canada vs. Switzerland game on Wednesday at B.C. Place.

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Commemorative soccer tattoos may be a World Cup phenomenon, but they’re more likely to happen when a team wins. After Argentina won the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, breaking a 36-year drought, tattoo artists across the country reported a stampede of fans getting Messi, and his No. 10; some even the whole team inked on their bodies.

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Adrenaline has even invited all members of Team Canada to come for a free soccer-related flash tattoo. Owner David Nixon isn’t sure players are allowed to be tattooed during a tournament, especially on game day: There could be an infection risk. But there is one special player who won’t be on the field Wednesday, who he’s reserving time for.

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Masi Aghdam, a tattoo artist at Granville Street Tattoo, was expecting more fans to be commemorating their teams with tattoos. Credit: Denise Ryan Photo by Denise Ryan /PNG

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“(Ismael) Kone could come in and get one. We hope he does,” said Nixon.

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FIFA doesn’t bar players from having tattoos. They represent one of the few opportunities for self-expression available for players who must follow the strict rules of the game, including Rule 4 explicitly prohibiting players from displaying “political, religious or personal slogans” on their jerseys and equipment

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They might even be helpful. According to a study, at the Cup in 2018, the goal success rate of penalty-takers with tattoos was found to be slightly higher than that of penalty-takers with no tattoos; they were more likely to be observed in the forward field positions and play longer; and to have more “aggressive, extroverted, risk-taking and dominant behaviour.”