Published On 4/24/2026
Toronto city officials have proposed making the 2026 World Cup “Fan Fest” events largely free, after a wave of criticism and objections to charging fans entry fees.
A report by The Athletic newspaper stated that the city’s original bid file to host the World Cup classified the Fan Fest – which is held in the Fort York and Bentoway areas – as a free event. These events are usually huge public spaces organized in the host cities, where fans can follow the matches live in public places, in addition to participating in various entertainment activities.
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However, a recent report submitted to the city’s executive committee proposed imposing an entry fee of 10 Canadian dollars (about $7.3), which sparked angry reactions from the public and some members of the municipal council.
But a new report issued on Wednesday by the Executive Director of the 2026 World Cup Secretariat in Toronto, Sharon Bollenbach, along with the city’s purchasing official, Genevieve Sharkey, called for the allocation of 15,600 free tickets per day out of 20,000 tickets, pending final approval by the City Council.
The Council is expected to vote on this proposal during this week’s meetings, at a time when estimates indicate that about 20,000 people will attend every day over a period of 22 days. Tickets are distributed according to the new plan as follows:
- 15,600 free general admission tickets per day.
- 500 free tickets reserved for community groups.
- 3,900 special tickets, ranging in price from 100 Canadian dollars (about 73 dollars) to 300 Canadian dollars (about 220 dollars).
City Council member Josh Matlow was one of the most prominent advocates of keeping the event free, warning against placing additional burdens on residents, especially since Toronto taxpayers have already contributed about 180 million Canadian dollars (about 132 million dollars) to finance hosting the tournament.
Matlow pointed out that the city’s residents will face traffic congestion and transportation difficulties during the World Cup period, stressing that most of them will not be able to attend the matches due to the high ticket prices that may reach thousands of dollars.
He added that the goal of the Fan Festival is to create a free and open space for everyone, allowing fans to feel the atmosphere of the global event even if they cannot enter the stadium.
In his post, Matlow confirmed that he had received confirmation from the organizer that the festival would be completely free for public admission, as he had previously promised.
Although the organizing committee justified the idea of imposing fees by seeking to control attendance numbers and prevent exceeding the capacity at Fort York, Matlow wondered about the relationship between imposing financial fees and crowd control, stressing that regulating numbers could be achieved by other means without compromising the principle of the free event.
The City of Toronto Stadium, BMO Field, is expected to host 6 matches, including 5 matches in the group stage and one match in the round of 32.
