The City of Toronto and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) will contribute $146 million for upgrades to BMO Field ahead of the 2026 FIFA games, officials announced at a news conference on Monday.
The city will contribute $123 million, and MLSE $23 million ahead of the 6 FIFA games that will be hosted in Toronto in 2026.
However, major components of the upgrade will be temporary. This includes a large expansion to the stadium's seating which will add space for 17,000 extra spectators, for a total of 45,000.
Other upgrades include improved broadcast infrastructure, four new LED videoboards, a new kitchen, better wifi, upgrades to the field, and a rooftop patio with space for 1,000 people.
The city also announced a federal contribution of $104 million to support the games more broadly.
"All the temporary seating that's going to be constructed will be happening at the end of the next TFC off season," explained Nick Eaves, Chief Operating Officer, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment's COO.
"That work hasn't begun yet, but that's a big part of how we're going to meet the FIFA minimum requirement."
The temporary seating will only be in place for a fairly short time, Eaves said. The seating will be installed by March of 2026 for preliminary FIFA events, and will be removed for the 2026 CNE.
About a third of the stadium upgrades will be permanent, while the rest will be temporary or are currently undetermined, said Sharon Bollenbach of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Toronto Secretariat.
The decision for the seats to be temporary was “ultimately financial,” Eaves said.
“I think obviously the investment in the stadium would have been significantly higher had those 17,000 extra seats been made permanent. So we looked at it carefully, because I think that would have been everybody's wish, but the final decision was to not do that based on the prohibitive cost associated with it.”
A sign at BMO Field is seen in March, 2025. (PATRICK CAIN/VILLAGE MEDIA)
