The FIFA World Cup is expected to draw fans from all over the world to Toronto this month but not all of them were able to secure tickets.
Nathan Richardson is planning to bring his family from Peterborough, England for his 60th birthday, nearly 20 years after attending the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
Richardson says flights, accommodations and spending money for the five-person trip have already pushed the budget to $10,000 and that’s without the cost of tickets to any of the six games slated for Toronto Stadium.
Richardson still hopes to get last-minute seats but is also OK with the fact his World Cup experience may not get him inside the stadium.
“Twenty years ago, I went to the World Cup in Germany for my 40th birthday, and I had such a great time going to the Fan Fests,” he said. “So when this one came around, my family thought it would be a great present to go over to Toronto.”
The family plans to visit the city from June 21 to June 27, overlapping with two scheduled games - Croatia-Panama on June 23 and Senegal-Iraq on June 26.
Tickets for both of those games are still available on FIFA’s official ticketing platform but only the more premium seats with the cost hovering around $600 and up per seat.
“I think the whole FIFA website, tickets, dynamic pricing stuff is just horrible, very frustrating,” he said. “It feels very money-orientated, this is the World Cup.”
Why pick Toronto?
With a strict immigration policy and previous calls to “boycott” the games in the U.S., Richardson says his family quickly zeroed in on Canada for their World Cup trip, adding that Toronto seemed like a “fantastic place” to be a part of soccer history even without costly tickets.
“We weren’t that keen on going to the USA because of all the immigration stuff and all sorts of things, and Canada’s much more attractive to us as a place to go,” he said. “Toronto looks like an amazing city. I’ve never been there. My kids have never been there. But just in a bit of research, it looks like a fantastic place.”
For just over $3,000 in the eastern part of the city, Richardson said his family rented an Airbnb in Scarborough, located near Victoria Park and Lawrence avenues.
“Originally it was me and my three boys,” he said. “And my wife had like massive FOMO. She’s ended up booking additionally to come over with us.”
The short-term rental market is one that could be lucrative for domestic homeowners.
Officials with Airbnb have previously said that hosts in come cities like the New York-New Jersey area, Boston and Los Angeles could earn as much as US$5,000 per listing for extended stays during the World Cup.
Economist Obeid Ur Rehman of Toronto Metropolitan University explained that while Toronto is used to big sporting events, the World Cup is on another level entirely in terms of global attention.
“In Toronto, we’ve hosted… large sports events, but this is pretty big," he said, adding that short term rental and hotels are expected to see “a major boom.”
“It’s going to be hotels and hospitality … people are going to need a place to stay, a place to eat, so restaurants, retail spending, airports and airlines … and then some of it will spill over to … transportation, people need to be getting to venues.
Booking without tickets
While tickets to matches at Toronto’s BMO Field may be out of budget for some fans, many people including the Richardson family have set their eyes on the alternative FIFA Fan Fest planned for Fort York and the Bentway.
Though Richardson says that too, proved to be surprisingly difficult.
“Every single ticket for every single match that we planned for was gone,” he said reflecting on the May 6 release fan festival tickets. “There was supposed to be, thousands of tickets (available).”
The family was later able to secure batches of tickets weeks later following the city’s decision to release tickets on a rolling basis.
“I think the whole FIFA website, tickets, dynamic pricing stuff is just horrible, very frustrating,” he said. “It feels very money-orientated, this is the World Cup.”
The fan festival will host dozens of food vendors and musical artists including Brampton-raised singer Alessia Cara as well as bands like Bedouin Soundclash, Big Wreck and Walk off the Earth.
High hopes for ‘a fab trip’
Reflecting on his previous World Cup experience, Richardson says he’s doubtful that not having stadium tickets will hurt his World Cup experience.
“We didn’t actually have tickets for the games in Germany, but the fan fests were amazing,” he said.
He’s hoping to check out Toronto’s pubs, patios and enjoy some friendly weather. He’s also hoping for an England win with Canada potentially advancing too, adding that it would a “nice vibe” for it come together.
“I’m hoping it’s just going to be a nice vibe in Toronto,” he said. “If all those things come together, or even some of them, then it’s going to be a fab trip.”
