2026 World Cup: Experts slam City of Toronto, MLSE's 'deeply concerning' deal, voice need for 'critical programs'

Toronto taxpayers will now bear the costs for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) will look to generate millions of dollars in revenue.

MLSE and the City of Toronto have entered a hosting partnership for the World Cup, an agreement that some experts say greatly benefits the MLSE all while putting the city and the taxpayer at risk. According to a Letter of Intent released on Feb. 10 and shared with Yahoo Canada, MLSE will not be responsible for any costs associated with the World Cup, instead, the City of Toronto will foot the entirety of the bill.

“No government should ever enter into a contract where the public takes all the financial risk, and the private partner gets some of the profit,” said Councillor Gord Perks of Ward 4, Parkdale-High Park.

The deal comes at a time where experts are questioning the city’s priorities. Gil Meslin, Research and Development Manager at Artscape Toronto and urban planner, is calling this another example of “privatizing the profit, and socializing the risk/losses,” all while Toronto faces more dire problems.

The Letter of Intent outlines several areas of cooperation between the City of Toronto and MLSE, including planning, coordination, and promotion of the once in a lifetime event. It also mentions the importance of ensuring that the World Cup benefits the local community and leaves a positive legacy.

A projection from June 2022 has the event costing the City of Toronto around $300 million.

According to the Letter of Intent, net revenue generated by the games for licensing and the sale of the event's commercial rights will be split between MLSE and the city to a maximum of $10 million. Any excess profits will be split 60/40, with the city ultimately benefiting.

The letter says that the MLSE will be kept financially “whole” for its role, “including a full transparency approach on all costs and challenges.”

The massive costs associated with the deal are causing concern, after the details of the partnership were initially reported by the Toronto Star.

As it stands, MLSE won’t bill a profit margin for commercial licensing costs and project management. However, at a rate of $150/hour plus expenses, MLSE will charge the City of Toronto for marketing, promotional and branding services.

Among other hosting costs, they include major upgrades to the municipally-owned BMO Field, which hosts MLSE-operated teams in the Toronto Argos and Toronto FC. It's a project that's estimated to cost the city $25 million, to go along with fees related to problems with the upgrades, such as cost overruns. In addition, costs to temporarily move the Argos and Toronto FC — which will be displaced for six weeks — will be footed by the city.

The massive costs associated with the rebuilding of the field is causing experts to question why the MLSE scored such a deal while other important programs remain underfunded.

“The problem we have is that we don't have the revenue or the funds to pay for critical programs,” said Perks.

“We have a huge number of people who are homeless. Our transit system, we're actually cutting service. So we have more important places to spend this money.”

For Michael Naraine, Associate Professor of Sport Management at Brock University, bringing the FIFA World Cup to Toronto, a global event that will be televised to billions of homes, “is a priority, but managing the event itself is not a priority.”

He wonders if the City of Toronto has the capacity to manage such a large event on their own, without the help of a premier sports and entertainment company such as the MLSE.

“MLSE created a footprint for itself at Exhibition Place. They are a well-oiled machine with existing infrastructure when it comes to partnerships,” said Naraine.

“They’re good at what they do, their time is valuable.”

While the Letter of Intent isn’t a final agreement, it aims to set the framework for future hosting deals between the two parties — sparking conversation and concern among critics and supporters.

Is the MLSE deal fair for the City of Toronto's citizens?

On June 16, 2022, Toronto was announced as an official host city for the 2026 World Cup, alongside 16 other major cities across North America. At least five soccer games are set to happen in Toronto’s BMO Field, and city officials hope that the event will yield significant legacies for Torontonians.

Toronto has estimated that hosting the World Cup will generate 3,300 jobs, 174,000 overnight visitors and produce $307 million in gross domestic product.

“The partnership agreement between the city and MLSE limits MLSE’s ability to generate profit from the project,” said Alex Burke, Manager of Media Relations at the City of Toronto, in a statement to Yahoo Canada.

Although experts commonly agree that the City of Toronto would have a hard time managing such an event on their own, critics are still questioning the city’s priorities.

“It's possible the city wouldn't be able to manage this event. But if our choices are a bad deal, and no event, I say do no event,” said Perks.

On Twitter, experts are raising the alarm. Meslin wonders how the city can spend up to $300 million to host five soccer games “at a moment when it can’t afford to shelter people, run buses, or maintain infrastructure.”

Jennifer Keesmaat, Canadian urban planner and former Chief City Planner of Toronto, also spoke up against the deal on Twitter. She says the deal only costs the taxpayer, and questioned if this is really what the Canadian taxpayer wants their dollar to go towards.

Multiple city councillors have also expressed their concern regarding the agreement.

Alejandra Bravo, Toronto City Councillor for Ward 9, Davenport, is demanding answers.

Josh Matlow, a councillor and Toronto mayoral candidate for the 2023 election, called the deal “deeply concerning,” reminding former mayor John Tory that he has to “stand up for the interests of the residents first.”

This isn’t the first time experts have raised the alarm on Tory specifically.

Former Mayor David Miller questioned Tory’s relationship to Rogers and the “sweetheart deal,” as his connection to the company has been a source of conflict in the past.

MLSE is majority-owned by Rogers and Bell, and Tory has a long association with Rogers Communications — having served as President & CEO for 8 years, and still sits on the advisory committee. He resigned as Toronto's mayor in February 2023.

Matt Elliott, part-time Professor at Humber College and city columnist, notes that the event will cause massive cost overruns left for the public, which is not uncommon after sports events.

In the past, massive sports events such as the Olympics, have been a disaster for citizens of the host city. The 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece helped fuel the city's economic crisis, whereas the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia costs the country more than $1 billion per year to pay off the infrastructure left behind.

We don’t have to look too far away to see the impact former Olympic games have left in host cities. Montréal was in debt for 30 years after the 1976 Summer Olympics, and although Vancouver didn’t seem to be too negatively economically impacted by its 2010 Winter Olympics, it did face massive environmental effects, with greenhouse gas emissions increasing during the Games to eight times what they are normally.

Despite the backlash, the city believes that MLSE’s expertise and participation as the city’s agent in the management of the project is an overall positive arrangement.

“It is expected to greatly reduce any risks by resulting in a successful on-time and fiscally responsible project,” noted Burke.

The City of Toronto is committed to transparency throughout the 2026 World Cup, including reports to Council as the project progresses.