When tickets went on sale for six World Cup games in Toronto next year, Aidan D'Souza and his family were lucky enough to snag some tickets, but he says it wasn't easy.
A week before the official ticket draw opened on November 30, he said, they received an email asking if they wanted to receive “hospitality tickets.” They agreed, but D'Souza says it was just the beginning.
“We had to act very quickly when getting tickets because FIFA was actually increasing the price that day. [went] D'Souza said. – We had 15 minutes once we put the tickets in our cart. So it was a really stressful time putting all the details in, but I'm so glad we got those three tickets.”
Tickets to Toronto – one of 16 North American cities hosting next summer's World Cup, tickets sold out about as quickly as they were issued. For most other people looking to check out this action, the resale market is the only option.
There used to be a resale limit in Ontario.
Anyone who has tried to resell tickets to a major event in recent years knows the pain, the frustration and, above all, the cost of the secondary market.
Pre-sales of tickets for the 2026 World Cup begin this week, with fans entering an initial draw giving winners the opportunity to purchase seats, with subsequent rounds of ticket sales to be released in the coming months.
Tickets cost as much as $80,000 on StubHub, a popular third-party reseller, and are currently selling for at least $2,000 apiece. This isn't a new problem—ask any Swiftie about the Eras Tour stop in Toronto and the Blue Jays' run to the World Series—and it's exacerbated by Ontario's resale laws.
In 2019, Doug Ford's government repealed part of the law that limited the resale of tickets to 50 percent above the original price, allowing sites like Ticketmaster, StubHub and SeatGeek to set whatever price they thought people would pay.
“This is a big problem that leaves low- and middle-income fans as bystanders,” says Vass Bednar, managing director of the Canadian SHIELD Institute, a policy institute that specializes in the Canadian economy.
Tickets are becoming a luxury item, expert says
Some people, Bednar says, might argue that events are a commodity and customers should be able to pay thousands per ticket if they place that much value on the experience.
Take D'Souza and his World Cup tickets. He says he paid $2,500 for each, although he thought it was expensive.
“But honestly, you're paying for that experience, aren't you? Something that may not happen again in Toronto in our lifetime,” D'Souza said.
But Bednar says there is a significant group of customers who complain that the philosophy “creates a fundamentally inaccessible experience for fans.”
“And that changes society, right?” – he said. “If we view major cultural events, major sporting events, as a luxury item available only to the highest bidder, then I think that really says something.”
It's an issue that Ford, after abandoning 2019, said he wanted to address this year. The change in sentiment came after World Series tickets in Toronto sold out almost immediately, but resale tickets went on sale soon after for well above face value.
“My personal opinion is … they're over-hyping people,” Ford said in October. “We have one player in the market who controls the tickets, this is not suitable for people.”
Both the Ontario NDP and Liberals have called on the Ford government to take action.
Ontario Opposition Leader Marit Stiles is calling on Premier Doug Ford and his Conservatives to pass a proposal to ban the resale of tickets above face value. This comes after many Blue Jays fans were unable to purchase tickets to World Series games in Toronto and were forced to purchase resale seats for thousands of dollars.
The province could look elsewhere for possible solutions. In Quebec, the government has proposed new legislation to protect consumers. According to the bill, resale prices there cannot exceed the original price of the official seller, unless expressly permitted by the event organizer.
The UK has also proposed banning the resale of tickets above face value.
A spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Community and Business Services said in a statement that the province is reviewing “potential issues related to ticket sales.”
“[I]If the scope of this problem can only be addressed by legislation, we will consider what options we have,” spokesman Joey Wu said in an email, adding that anyone concerned about a violation of the Ontario Consumer Protection Act should file a complaint with the ministry.
Ways to purchase tickets to the World Cup in Toronto
So how do you get tickets to the World Cup? It's a little complicated.
Fans can register with FIFA online and have the option to buy hospitality tickets like D'Souza did, which include food and drink. There is also a FIFA random draw for which fans can register until January 13th. Those selected will be notified in February and their credit cards will be automatically charged.
After this, FIFA will sell whatever remains on a first-come, first-served basis.
FIFA recently reduced the price of a certain number of tickets for each game after football fans around the world were outraged by the exorbitant prices. But they are limited and will be issued by national football federations.
FIFA also has its own marketplace for resale and exchange, but these transactions charge a 15 percent fee.
