Shucking Oysters: Soccer to You
By Alex Allen
I can think of many places that I would avoid visiting these days. Barcelona, Rome, Bangkok, Paris – pretty much any place in the world that has that tourist cachet. Another place, closer to home, is Vancouver, with an estimated 350,000 FIFA soccer fans descending on the city this weekend. For those who visit, oh, so exciting. For those who live in Greater Vancouver, oh, so disruptive. While hosting large sporting events appears to be great for communities, research suggests the actual financial rewards are often much less than anticipated. And yet, many politicians remain eager to host them.
Let’s unpack FIFA in Vancouver. The cost is projected to be up to $729 million from the $624 million estimated last year, with an average price of $104 million per game. Revenues are estimated at $615 million, which includes a $216 million contribution from the federal government. Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim claimed that the city’s seven World Cup matches would be “the equivalent of 30 to 40 Super Bowls.”
The hotel tax is another area of revenue projected at $260 million. The irony is that hotel bookings are down 20%. Despite initial predictions of a 200% surge, rooms at downtown properties are sitting between $900 and $2,000 a night, with many accommodations heavily discounted. What didn’t help was FIFA returning roughly 75% of its reserved hotel room blocks (about 15,000 room nights) to the general inventory.
Security and safety of course, are the biggest expense at $242 million, a figure that could rise well above that. By comparison, the final security bill for the 2010 Winter Olympics was $900 million, five times more than the original $175 million estimate. Another major expense was upgrading BC Place at $185 million. But how the costs break down is not something the BC government is willing to provide until after the games are over. In contrast, host city Toronto, has posted budget documents on its website that break down safety and security costs.
Is FIFA worth it? Politicians say the global spotlight on Vancouver, as well as the economic boost, present “opportunities to create a lasting legacy.” “Hosting FIFA World Cup matches will drive tourism and bring significant economic benefits as soccer fans from around the globe discover why our beautiful province is such a great place to visit and invest,” said Premier David Eby. Like Hornby Island, I don’t think Vancouver needs help with tourism.
Moshe Lander, an economist at Montreal’s Concordia University, said: “It’s always the case that ego and vanity-driven politicians will always underestimate the cost of large-scale sporting events, and they will always overestimate the benefits.” And the only way the provincial government could have avoided high security costs would have been to say No to hosting, Lander said.
Perhaps the biggest headache will be going from A to B, with major road closures and local-traffic only zones throughout downtown Vancouver. As well, around 200 surveillance cameras have gone up around the stadium and other parts of Vancouver, including Commercial Drive and training sites. If you look at the photos, downtown Vancouver looks like it’s in lockdown not hosting a sports event.
Another disruption. No criminal trials or civil jury trials will be able to take place during the tournament, because of the heavy reliance on police services for public safety, traffic, and crowd management. “The full extent of the impacts is uncertain and will remain so for some time,” the Supreme Court of British Columbia noted obliquely.
A coalition of housing advocates, labour organizers, and civil liberties groups say there is another story unfolding, one they argue deserves equal attention. “The presentation of a ‘clean’ and ‘welcoming’ environment for tourists depends on an organized campaign of displacement and criminalization,” said Laura Macintyre, staff lawyer at Pivot Legal Society. “Vancouver’s residents are being kicked out of already precarious housing on Granville Street, told they can’t shelter in the two-kilometre radius surrounding BC Place, and consistently displaced by police … all to try to sanitize the city’s image.”
What’s more, unionized hotel workers say that while hotels may see increased revenue during the tournament, workers worry that the benefits will not extend to them. Cristina Figueroa, of UNITE HERE Local 40, said: “FIFA will be raking in billions and billions of dollars. Some hotels will be charging over $1,000 a night for a room during the games. But too many hospitality workers can’t afford to live in the city. Will FIFA share their wealth and give a cut of their earnings to help working people in Vancouver? No.”
Housing advocates also questioned the city’s priorities. Athena Pranteau of AYX Bus Community questioned why there is no money for housing. “Where are the priorities? This is Vancouver, BC, Canada. Mayor Ken Sim, where are your priorities?” Andrea Florence of Sports and Rights Alliance said, “Despite FIFA’s mantra that ‘football unites the world,’ a World Cup held under discriminatory and exclusionary policies risks deepening social divides rather than bridging them.”
In January, at the US National Conference of Mayors, the controversial president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino enthused: “We reach 1.6 billion people, thanks to the positive emotions that soccer triggers, FIFA is more influential than any country on Earth and any religion. We move masses. We want to use that to create more peace, justice and health in the world. For the first time in 250 years of history of the United States of America, you will not just be invaded but you will be conquered.” After a reaction of silence, Infantino clarified, “You will be conquered by soccer.”
Infantino won his role in 2016, in part by promising to restore FIFA’s reputation. The New Yorker reported that he did reform FIFA, just not in the way one might have imagined. “Tasked with changing a culture where money was passed under the table, he arguably got rid of the table. It’s all in the open now.” Infantino earns $6 million a year, flies on a jet provided by the state of Qatar and seems to be cut from the same entitled cloth as Trump. He even requested a “four-level escort” motorcade while attending the games in Vancouver, allowing his convoy to override red lights and deploy road blockages. Level-four protection is just one level below security given to the Pope and the prime minister. Despite his attempts to charm city officials into submission, Infantino’s requests were denied.
It didn’t help when Infantino sucked up to Trump, by creating a peace prize in December. Despite the growing backlash, Infantino defended his decision insisting that “objectively, he deserves it” – barely 24 hours after Trump carried out a deadly air strike in the Caribbean.
Referring to the Uruguayan forward who has been caught up in at least three biting incidents on the field throughout his career, football journalist Zach Lowy wrote, “Giving Donald Trump a prize for peace is like giving Luis Suarez a prize for not biting people’s ears off.”
FI-FA-Fo-Fum…is it worth it?
