WARMINGTON: Only in Toronto could ‘free’ World Cup fan fest now come with cost

Councillor Brad Bradford is calling for Mayor Olivia Chow to honour city's original pledge

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Published Apr 15, 2026  •  3 minute read

The 2026 FIFA World Cup countdown clock is seen outside Toronto City Hall at Nathan Phillips Square on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. Photo by Justin Holmes

This World Cup soccer ball is hitting Canadian fans right in their pocketbook.

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And non-fans, too.

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Canadian taxpayers have already paid $380 million out of their pockets for these World Cup soccer games, and now there’s a proposal to charge kids $10 to join the excitement from under the Gardiner Expressway.

The FIFA Fan Festival was supposed to be free. The original taxpayer commitment was supposed to be no more than $45 million. Seems there is inflation with these six soccer games, and it is you, the taxpayer, who pays — even if you never go to a game, or even care that any are being played.

“The city told residents the Fan Festival at Fort York and The Bentway would be free,” Councillor Brad Bradford said. “It was one of the clearest commitments this administration made — a celebration that belonged to everyone, no ticket required. Now, two months before kickoff, we learn the city is planning to charge $10 at the door.”

So much for free

It actually is worse than that. The city is proposing three fan fest tiers starting at $10 and going up to $300 for VIPs. And this won’t be at the renovated BMO Field or the CNE grounds, but at and next to Old Fort York. It is believed it could raise $25 million in revenue. That is a long way from free. By the way, there are no reports that other host cities are planning to charge for the fan festivals.

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BMO Field during a tour organized by MLSE and the City of Toronto to showcase the stadium’s upgrades ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup. The Canadian Press

No local Canadian business gets the kind of financial help from the public than this soccer event gets. But they, and their customers, are asked to help pay for it. On the city of Toronto website, it states “FIFA World Cup 2026 Hosting Costs” includes “$226.353 million in operating costs and $153.647 million in capital costs, totalling to $380 million” and that “these direct costs are fully funded through a combination of City Reserves, Federal and Provincial grants, and third-party revenues.”

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Who knows how high this really will go. And once it’s over, what legacy will it really leave? Better boxes and dressing rooms for the stadiums and taxpayers footing a giant bill for a party for the elite. This is the second recent strange change that’s been made around this event. As the Toronto Sun‘s Dan Bilicki reported, there were also seats added below the premium seats fans already paid for — meaning they were no longer field side.

Bradford wants this reversed

Bradford, a declared mayoral candidate to run in October against Mayor Olivia Chow, added, “$10 might not sound like much at City Hall. But for a family of five, that is $50 before anyone has bought a drink or a meal. For a lot of families in this city, that is the difference between going and staying home. And for a moment that was supposed to bring Toronto together, that is exactly the wrong call.”

Toronto City Councillor Brad Bradford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow. Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun, Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

The whole show is unnecessary. Chow has already in her short time as mayor raised taxes 25% and people struggling to pay their mortgages or buy groceries must look over at this renovated-to-seat 45,000 fans stadium and wonder why they have to pay it and can’t even stand in a field to have their kids partake in a fan party that should not cost anything to the average person.

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“The whole point of a fan festival is that it belongs to the city — all of it, not just the people who can afford a ticket,” Bradford said. “Toronto is about to host the world. We should be showing the world what this city is capable of, not nickel-and-diming our own residents for a party we promised would be free.”

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Chow has not commented so far but Bradford is urging her to step in and stop this Fan Festival charge. The councillor is “calling on the mayor to honour the original commitment and keep the Fan Festival free for all Torontonians.”

It only seems right. Taxpayers have already paid the elite to be able to go. The least FIFA and Toronto can do is let average fans join in on the World Cup fun.

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