By Canadian Press

City of Toronto, MLSE draft deal protecting company from 2026 World Cup losses

Apr 12, 2023 | 1:58 PM

TORONTO — The City of Toronto and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment have drafted an agreement detailing their proposed partnership surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which aims to shield the company from suffering any losses related to matches in Toronto.  

Canada is co-hosting the tournament along with Mexico and the United States. In June, Toronto was named as one of the host cities.  

The city’s Feb. 10 letter of intent addressed to MLSE states that the company will serve as the project manager for upgrades to the downtown BMO Field stadium and the MLSE training facilities in Toronto’s north end, which will both be used for the tournament.

The letter sent by the city to The Canadian Press outlines “principles” that will govern future “Definitive Agreements” between Toronto and the company, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors.  

Those include “keeping MLSE ‘whole’ financially,” but “without ‘double dipping’ in respect of amounts payable by the City to MLSE,” related to upgrading the stadium, which is owned by the city, and other project management costs. 

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The city’s letter also says MLSE will be compensated for any losses incurred through the need to temporarily relocate the Toronto Argos or Toronto FC, which are also owned by the company. 

MLSE, alongside Destination Toronto, will also provide the city with marketing, branding and advertising services for the World Cup, the letter says, at a basis rate of $150 per hour. 

The letter states that net revenue earned during the World Cup will be split equally by MLSE and Toronto up to $10 million. If revenues exceed $10 million they will be split 60 per cent for the city and 40 per cent for MLSE. 

MLSE’s vice president of communications says in a statement that the organization shares “a strong history” of working with Toronto to produce “world-class events that continue to enhance the city’s reputation on the global stage.”

Dave Haggith says that track record “played an important role in securing Toronto’s role as a host city for the largest sporting event in the world,” which he says is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefits. 

FIFA announced in mid-March that it has created a 104-game schedule for the nearly-six-week tournament in June-July 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The 16 host cities — 11 in the United States, three in Mexico, and Toronto and Vancouver in Canada — now have 24 extra games to stage on top of the 80 they already had for the inaugural 48-team tournament.

The organizing committee’s initial blueprint called for Canada and Mexico to each host 10 games with the U.S. staging the remaining 60, including all games from the quarterfinals on. Canada is expected to get more games now that the tournament group stage has been expanded.

And while FIFA has yet to detail the schedule, one scenario would possibly see an opening day tripleheader with games in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, which could give BMO Field a marquee platform.

Improvements to the stadium are necessary with a minimum capacity of 40,000 needed. BMO Field has expanded temporarily in the past, for events like an NHL outdoor game.

Concerns over the cost of hosting the event prompted Montreal to drop out in the host city selection process in July 2021 after the provincial government withdrew its support, citing cost overruns that would have been difficult to justify to taxpayers.

– with files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2023.

The Canadian Press