What to know<\/p>\n
A photo of steep temporary seating at BMO Field has gone viral online, with some residents questioning whether the stands are safe.<\/p>\n
The stadium is undergoing a $158-million renovation ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including adding about 17,000 temporary seats.<\/p>\n
The City of Toronto says the seating structures are designed to meet building codes and will undergo inspections before being approved for use.<\/p>\n
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment says the temporary stands follow FIFA safety and sightline requirements and similar structures have been used at major events worldwide.<\/p>\n
As construction continues at BMO Field ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, officials say the temporary seating structures drawing criticism online will meet all safety standards before fans ever take their seats.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, a photo showing steep temporary stands at the stadium began circulating widely on social media, with some residents saying they would feel unsafe sitting in the upper rows. The image sparked debate online about structural stability, slippery steps, and whether spectators at the top will have clear views of the pitch.<\/p>\n
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The temporary stands are part of a $158-million renovation of the BMO Field \u2014 dubbed Toronto Stadium for the occasion \u2014 which includes adding roughly 17,000 seats to expand capacity to about 45,000 fans for the global tournament. Toronto will host six matches when the FIFA World Cup arrives this June.<\/p>\n
City officials say the work is nearing completion.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe City of Toronto continues work at Toronto Stadium at Exhibition Place in preparation to host FIFA World Cup 2026 matches, with completion scheduled for later this month,\u201d a City of Toronto spokesperson told Now Toronto on Friday.<\/p>\n
The city added that the temporary seating structures have been designed to meet building codes and will undergo inspections before being used.<\/p>\n
Seating expansions like the ones headed to the Toronto Stadium are frequently used at large international sporting events to increase stadium capacity, according to the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe seating layout complies with FIFA tournament requirements to ensure clear views of the field for spectators,\u201d the spokesperson added, noting that additional visuals will be released once construction is finished.<\/p>\n
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), which operates BMO Field, also pushed back on the concerns circulating online.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stadium renovations, including the temporary stands, have been developed by the global leaders in stadium architecture and development and have been built in conjunction with FIFA sight line and stringent safety requirements,\u201d an MLSE spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
According to MLSE, the firms involved have extensive experience designing and delivering temporary stadium seating for major international events.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese groups have worked around the world in delivering temporary stands for thousands of events including Olympic venues and weekly golf events and are simply the best in the world at what they do,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
The organization added that the project has undergone multiple levels of review and still needs final approvals from city agencies in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
MLSE also pointed to the venue\u2019s past experience with similar seating expansions.<\/p>\n
\u201cFans will remember a similar temporary seating structure was used at the venue in 2016 when hosting MLS Cup, the NHL Centennial Classic, and the Grey Cup, and since that time, advanced technologies have resulted in improvements that will only build on the venue\u2019s successful history hosting world-class events,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Toronto\u2019s stadium upgrades will also include improvements to broadcast infrastructure to support global television coverage and upgrades to locker rooms and facilities.<\/p>\n
The 2026 FIFA World Cup \u2014 co-hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico \u2014 is expected to bring more than a million visitors to Toronto during the tournament, marking one of the largest sporting events the city has ever hosted.<\/p>\n
City officials say more details about the finished seating structures will be shared once construction wraps up later this month.<\/p>\n
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Toronto\u2019s first-ever men\u2019s FIFA World Cup match kicks off on Friday, June 12, with a round of 32 match set for Thursday, July 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What to know A photo of steep temporary seating at BMO Field has gone viral online, with some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[72433,49,48,70088,82,3302],"class_list":["post-519148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-bmo-field","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-sports","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}