Invoking the memory of some of the strategies that helped make the 2010 Winter Olympics widely regarded as a major success, Vancouver City Council on Tuesday unanimously backed a member motion by Mayor Ken Sim to ask the Government of British Columbia to provide operating funding to make all live screenings of 2026 FIFA World Cup matches at the new PNE amphitheatre free.
The new 10,000-seat landmark covered outdoor amphitheatre is now approaching the final stages of construction, with completion and opening expected just weeks before the tournament, when it will serve as the centrepiece of the FIFA Fan Festival at the PNE fairgrounds.
However, according to the mayor, the City’s local organizing committee for the FIFA World Cup is planning to charge a “modest ticket price” for entry to watch live screenings of the matches happening in any of the 16 host cities. This is planned as one of the strategies to help offset the overall $20-million event and production costs of putting on the five-week-long FIFA Fan Festival.
Currently, there are only plans to provide free general admission for access into the PNE fairgrounds, enabling the public to enjoy cultural and sponsorship activations, food and beverage offerings, official FIFA merchandise sales, and other activations and programming only outside the amphitheatre. The fan festival’s overall capacity is expected to be at least 25,000 attendees per day.
In stark contrast, both general access and the ability to enjoy live screenings of the 2010 Olympics’ sports events at the highly successful Live City Yaletown and Live City Downtown festivals were completely free.
For the past few decades, FIFA has required all FIFA World Cup host cities to stage high-calibre official FIFA Fan Festivals coinciding with the duration of the tournament, with live screenings of the matches being core to the programming offered. Traditionally, at all FIFA Fan Festivals in the past, general access and live screenings are completely free, but some host cities for the 2026 edition — including Vancouver — are considering deviating from this approach due to cost-recovery reasons.
During today’s public meeting, Mayor Sim said the City has had “very promising conversations” with the provincial government about supporting free live screenings at the amphitheatre. Presumably, the request is to have the provincial government subsidize the budgeted ticketing revenue from the live screenings.
May 2024 artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture/PNE)
Artistic rendering of the new PNE Amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture/PNE)
Sim said offering free programming is critical, given that many Metro Vancouver residents will be unable to attend matches at BC Place Stadium because of extreme demand and FIFA’s high ticket prices. The approved motion sets the stage for a fan festival that would make the tournament accessible to residents and visitors without tickets, similar to the role the Live City sites played during the 2010 Olympics.
“This is such an incredible event — once in a lifetime in the city of Vancouver. We want to make sure that people have access to it,” said the mayor.
“This is every single Vancouverite’s, everyone in the region, everyone in the province, these are our FIFA games. And it won’t feel like our FIFA games if people don’t have opportunities because they can’t afford to see it.”
ABC city councillor Mike Klassen also highlighted the Olympics’ successful free fan festivals, activations, and programming strategies that provided Whistler, Vancouver, and other communities in Metro Vancouver with an electric atmosphere.
“All of these activities made that to be the most, probably the best Winter Games in history. And it was because we thought about average folks who weren’t able to get up onto the slopes, weren’t able to go up to Whistler and watch the you know, the luge and what have you, couldn’t afford those tickets,” said Klassen.
Aside from live match screenings, the amphitheatre will also host live entertainment, including concerts and other programming. A full lineup and schedule of local and global artists will be released closer to the tournament. It is anticipated that access to the amphitheatre for such concerts will be ticketed, along with the availability of other premium experiences and packages at the fan festival.
September 2025 construction progress on Freedom Mobile Arch, the new PNE amphitheatre. (Revery Architecture)
No live screenings during BC Place Stadium’s non-match days
Mayor Sim’s motion also proposed asking FIFA and the provincial government to enable the staging of free live screenings of the matches using the centre video screens at BC Place Stadium on non-match days — when the venue is not being used for the seven matches scheduled for the stadium. However, during today’s deliberations, Sim moved an amendment to remove this component from his motion; ever since his motion was first put forward last week, he has learned in advance from FIFA and the provincial government that this is not feasible for security and logistical reasons and the associated increased operating costs.
“It’s become clear that due to security requirements for the tournament, watch parties at BC Place will not be possible. And our primary goal is to make sure that we put on very successful games that are safe,” said Sim.
“It just doesn’t seem like it’s going to be possible to open up BC Place on non-game days because of all the security requirements and all the infrastructure that’s been put into place. And so, we acknowledge that and we support FIFA’s decision. They’ve been great partners, and they care about putting on very safe games,” added the mayor.
There are also major differences in the road closure plans around BC Place Stadium on match days and non-match days, with match-day road closures spanning a considerably larger area. Presumably, more road closures would likely be needed during the stadium’s non-match days if live screening events were to take place.
During the same public meeting, City Council also approved Sim’s separate motion on staging a one-night fireworks event in August 2026 to replace this summer’s cancelled three-night Honda Celebration of Light.
Live City Yaletown at David Lam Park during the 2010 Winter Olympics. (Alfred Shum/Flickr)
Live City Yaletown at David Lam Park during the 2010 Winter Olympics. (Alfred Shum/Flickr)
Vancouver 2010 Olympics’ Live City Yaletown festival at David Lam Park. (Inventa)