A new poll from the Angus Reid Institute found 72 per cent of those surveyed in the Lower Mainland think $1 billion is too much to pay
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As the World Cup gets set to kick off Thursday, Metro Vancouver residents are bracing for a month and a half of celebrations and disruption, with almost three-quarters saying the potential $729 million price tag may not be worth it.
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According to a new poll by the Angus Reid Institute, 72 per cent of those surveyed said they didn’t think the pros outweighed the cons when it comes to the World Cup, with increased security measures, cancelled festivals, street closures and a lack of transparency from all levels of government being just some of the concerns.
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A staggering 83 per cent of respondents said they thought government being on the hook for any cost overruns was unacceptable.
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And 79 per cent of respondents said they believe FIFA will receive most of the revenue from ticket sales, sponsorship fees and broadcast rights, leaving governments footing most of the bill, especially security costs. According to the host city agreement, FIFA controls almost 100 per cent of the revenue. The organization says it expects to raise at least $11 billion from the 2026 World Cup.
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Angus Reid Institute president Shachi Kurl says that many people have seen the stories of sluggish hotel bookings and ticket sales. Combined with the reputation FIFA has for corruption, they have concluded that Vancouver is not going to see the benefits that Mayor Ken Sim and Premier David Eby have promised.
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“This is a tournament that wasn’t subject to a plebiscite or a referendum as to whether the people of Metro Vancouver or the City of Vancouver wanted this tournament,” said Kurl.
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“It’s not as though there won’t be interest or fans showing up in fan zones. There will be diehard folks, there will be enthusiastic folks who want to go and be part of this, but in terms of the costs and the payoffs, we have been hearing about how this has not necessarily been the net boon for the Vancouver hotel industry that was predicted.”
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She also said that, unlike the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the World Cup doesn’t provide for the same level of engagement because the tickets are more unaffordable, there is only one venue, and many of the seats are being snapped up by wealthy fans from abroad.
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In the lead-up to the Olympics, there was considerable concern about how the $1.84 billion operational costs, plus $5 billion in additional infrastructure spending, were going to be spent and what the benefits would be.
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According to polling by Innovative Research Group, only 22 per cent of British Columbians felt the Olympics were a good idea a few months before that event got underway. However, a poll by Ipsos a year after the Games found around 80 per cent of B.C. residents felt it had been a success.
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Provincial Sport Minister Anne Kang told Postmedia that the government expects an addition $1 billion in gross domestic product as a result of the World Cup and that she is hearing from many British Columbians who are excited about the tournament.
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She said that hotel room bookings are finally picking up and that she expects all the matches to sell out.
