The city of Toronto used its host-city privileges to buy up more than 3,500 FIFA World Cup tickets, and then set out to flip them for a profit. By the look of it, that gamble is paying off, with only a handful of tickets now left to sell.
The city has confirmed it saw a return on its investment, though it is not clear just yet exactly how much money Toronto has made from the resale. What is clear is that the bulk of the stash has already moved.
The strategy has drawn scrutiny, and Mayor Olivia Chow has been defending it. She rejects the suggestion that City Hall is acting as a scalper or gouging soccer fans, framing the decision instead as a careful piece of financial planning.
A key part of her argument is who the tickets went to. According to Chow, they were resold to major corporations and sponsors, rather than being placed on the open market where families would have to compete for them.
Chow says the purpose is to protect taxpayers. Hosting the tournament costs money, she explained, but not one penny of the city's hosting bill comes from taxpayers, with the funding instead raised through a levy on hotels and corporate sponsorship tied to the ticket sales. As she put it, the city is not doing this out of greed but to save taxpayers dollars.
She also addressed the timing and the politics around it. The plan, she said, was made last year, well before the provincial guidelines came in, and she spoke to the premier about it, saying he knows exactly what the city is doing.
Not everyone is convinced. Critics call the approach disappointing on a number of fronts, pointing to mayors in US cities, such as New York, who used their leverage to reduce ticket costs or to host community groups so residents could experience the matches. The six World Cup matches in Toronto are due to kick off next week.