Still plenty of Toronto FIFA Fan Fest premium tickets remain unsold

It only took a few hours for Toronto to sell out of the hundreds of thousands of complimentary tickets for the city's 22-day FIFA World Cup Fan Festival.

The premium tickets, however, are a different story.

There appear to be hundreds of tickets still available for each of the three-tiered premium VIP options at The Bentway and Fort York for every day of Toronto's FIFA Fan Festival, regardless of the game.

The number of premium tickets still available is an estimation of what fans can see on Ticketmaster. The city declined to provide blogTO with an exact number of how many premium tickets had actually been sold.

The price tag for these premium options, between $122.70 and $358.70, gets fans expedited entry lines, private lounges, upgraded washrooms, and premium viewing areas. But even with these add-ons, it appears to be a tough sell.

Of course, there are some exceptions. Canada's three group-stage fixtures on June 12, June 18, and June 24 have some demand, but outside of those games, the other 19 sessions are not selling out.

There are no more tickets available in two of the three VIP sections for Canada's opening match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12. (Ticketmaster)

One issue might be the city's pricing strategy. The city has kept each tier of premium tickets at the same price regardless of the match.

Fans in Toronto would have to pay the same cost of entry to watch a Canada game as they would to watch a Panama vs. Ghana match, or a June 26 match between Senegal and Iraq, when a fan could catch the game in person for a McDonald's combo-price difference down the street at Toronto Stadium.

blogTO reached out to both the city and Toronto's FIFA World Cup secretariat to inquire about the lack of demand and where these thousands of premium tickets would go, if unsold.

A spokesperson for the city did not disclose whether the demand has matched the same rush for general admission or not. They also did not answer questions about what will happen to unsold tickets, only confirming there will be no onsite sales once the tournament starts.

Instead, the secretariat said it is "thrilled" by the interest surrounding the FIFA World Cup Fan Festival and can feel the "excitement building."

A digital rendering of what Toronto's FIFA Festival will look like at The Bentway and Fort York Historic Site. (City of Toronto)

The lack of premium fan fest sales reflects a broader trend Toronto has seen in the lead-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup: a complete overestimation of demand.

As of Friday, more than 3,000 tickets were still available through FIFA's official ticketing website for Canada's opening match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The cheapest seats listed were around $1,300, while resale sites like StubHub and SeatGeek have similar tickets listed for hundreds less, with prices continuing to slide every day.

Toronto’s hospitality industry is feeling the same effect.

According to multiple reports, hotels were told to expect more than two million visitors during Toronto's six World Cup matches. Now, with kickoff just three weeks away, those projections, to put it in soccer terms, are down two goals in injury time.

In March, FIFA reportedly cancelled thousands of hotel reservations across North America after overbooking accommodations for athletes, referees, and technical staff.

Hotel owners have put conferences and events on the back burner to cater to the world's biggest sporting event and are staring at empty rooms, hoping, just like the city, that this long-promised World Cup tourism boom kicks in before the opening whistle.