Some people question FIFA World Cup benefits, while Eby says Vancouver could host more matches

Premier David Eby says B.C. is able to host more than the seven 2026 FIFA World Cup matches planned for Vancouver, even as questions mount over transparency and the tournament's economic benefits.

B.C. organizers announced on Tuesday that the cost estimate of hosting the games increased to between $532 million and $624 million. That's up from a 2024 estimate of between $483 million and $581 million.

B.C.'s government justified the cost increase, saying the matches — part of the tournament being co-hosted by the U.S. and Mexico — will lead to more than one million additional out-of-province visitors between 2026 and 2031, generating more than $1 billion in additional visitor spending.

But an economist and a pollster are questioning the benefits for B.C.

Meanwhile, Eby said the province would be eager to take on more of the World Cup matches if any are reassigned from other host cities.

His remarks come amid growing concerns around the U.S. as a co-host nation. Human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have raised "grave concerns" about the tournament being held there, and questions have surfaced over whether international fans will face barriers due to U.S. immigration policies.

Eby made the comments Friday while answering questions from reporters at a signing ceremony at the Musqueam soccer field near Southwest Marine Drive, where the provincial government, the City of Vancouver, and three local First Nations formalized their agreement to co-operate on hosting duties.

"Additional games in British Columbia would not only be possible, but they would be incredibly welcome," Eby said.

"We've actually written to FIFA to say if for whatever reason they need to move games from any other locations, British Columbia stands ready to host," he said. "We can move quickly. We have an amazing team and we are ready to host additional games here in this beautiful province."

Eby added many of the big expenses for hosting the FIFA World Cup like upgrades to B.C. Place Stadium are already being paid for and won't increase if more games are added.

"In terms of the budget, a lot of the costs for FIFA are fixed costs related to upgrades ... which means that additional games bring in additional ticket revenue, additional revenue for the province," he said.

But a pollster says the economic benefits of the tournament may not be known for decades, given some of the files from the organizing committee of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics are still sealed.

"I understand the frustration completely, because here we are almost a couple of decades out of the Vancouver Winter Olympics and we don't have a full accounting of what happened," said Mario Canseco, the president of the polling firm Research Co.

WATCH | Canseco says uncertainty contributing to rising costs:

Mario Canseco, president of Research Co., says the costs of hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup may be impacted by world events and conflicts, such as potential security costs related to Iran's soccer team qualifying for the tournament. He broke things down for BC Today host Michelle Eliot.

Polling done by Canseco over the last few years has revealed general support for hosting the World Cup, but the pollster noted that many people "had a bad taste in their mouths" over the Olympics' legacy in the city.

Canseco noted that the hundreds of millions being spent on the World Cup come amid a time of economic uncertainty in the province, given the U.S. tariff threat and rising inflation.

"FIFA tends to be just as secretive as the Olympic Committee, if not more so," the pollster said. "So it's going to be tough to actually look at all of these numbers at the end of the World Cup and see if it makes sense."

Officials have been bullish on the positive benefits associated with hosting the World Cup, with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim likening hosting the World Cup to having 30 Super Bowls, in terms of economic benefit.

An average viewership figure for each FIFA opening round game is about 360 million, compared with the approximately 115 million views the Super Bowl gets. In addition, the province has estimated 350,000 spectators will come to B.C. Place for the World Cup games.

Moshe Lander, a senior economics lecturer at Concordia University, said he's skeptical over those numbers and doubts the economic benefits would amount to hosting even one or two Super Bowls.

WATCH | Lander critical of how World Cup was promoted:

On Tuesday, the B.C. government released an updated cost estimate for Vancouver hosting seven World Cup games in 2026, with the tournament set to cost taxpayers up to $624 million. Politicians have said the World Cup could bring in billions in revenue. But Moshe Lander, a senior economics lecturer at Concordia University, says the numbers simply don't make sense.

Lander says that, given a crunch on hotel room space in Vancouver, World Cup visitors would likely displace regular tourists and cruise ship passengers that would have already been in the city at the height of summer.

"That reduces the overall economic benefits substantially — not quite to zero, but pretty close to it," he told Amy Bell, guest host of CBC's On The Coast.

WATCH | Is hosting the World Cup worth it?

Toronto and Vancouver are slated to host 13 FIFA World Cup games in 2026, and the security budgets have gone up by tens of millions of dollars. Some are asking if it's worth it.

Lander also says that, given what the city saw during the 2010 Olympics, locals are likely to leave Vancouver during the summer to avoid the chaos associated with hosting a large tournament.

"That itself, then, reduces the benefits even further," the economist said.

"So there is just no way that there's going to be $1 billion worth of economic benefits. I think that the decimal is massively in the wrong spot to the right."

In response to Lander's criticism, B.C. Tourism Minister Spencer Chandra Herbert said the province was using the World Cup investments to upgrade B.C. Place stadium and provide benefits into the future.

"I think the economist kind of misses the point," he said on CBC's On The Coast. "This isn't all predicated on the idea of tourism during one month."

Herbert said the province's investment in the World Cup was a sound one, given how jurisdictions spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising to grab eyeballs from across the globe.

"You'd have to spend a whole lot more than we're currently spending on World Cup to generate the same interest in our jurisdiction, to get in front of people for hours at a time as they watch the game," Herbert said. "It's an ongoing tourism advertisement during the game."

WATCH | Herbert defends rising cost of World Cup hosting:

On Tuesday, the B.C. government announced that the cost of hosting seven World Cup matches in Vancouver next year could rise beyond $620 million. Tourism Minister Spencer Chandra Herbert defended the cost to taxpayers, saying that the province had to "spend a penny to make a pound" and that it couldn't ask for a better tourism advertisement for all of B.C.

Herbert said the World Cup was the "first step" for B.C. to market itself as a safe destination for tourists, who would then visit other parts of the province like Vancouver Island and the B.C. Interior.

"I think, sometimes, you have to spend a penny to make a pound, so to speak," Herbert said.

"And I think in this case, if you're looking at spending $85 [million] to $145 million in net core cost for the province ... then you [must] bear that out with the growth in tourism and the growth in interest and investment."