World Cup And the Big O simply don’t Add up
I would be super-excited about the possibility of Montreal snaring some games in the 2026 World Cup if it wasn’t for one important detail. The Montreal bid is built around the notion that the host venue will be the Olympic Stadium and as much as I love the World Cup, that ruins the whole thing for me.
Canada, the U.S. and Mexico will be the host countries, and it looks like there will be 10 games in Canada.
The bizarre-looking Big O is beyond troubled. You could argue that it was a decent home for the 1976 Olympics, but since then, it has become at best a local running gag and at worst the site of many a disaster. Many of us never liked the location in the east end, and it is one of the coldest and least-inviting places to watch a sports event — and don’t even get me started on what it’s like to go to a concert there. It was a bad place for concerts way back in 1977 when Pink Floyd played there, and it remains a venue most musicians wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole.
That ’77 Floyd gig was one of the first shows I ever saw and all I remember was how bad the sound was. Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters remembers it as one of the worst shows they ever gave and it was so awful, the angst it created gave birth to the rock opera The Wall. The Rolling Stones concert there in ’89 wasn’t as bad, but it still sounded awful. Just how terrible is it as a music venue? When U2 comes here on their stadium tour, they build their own outdoor stadium rather than playing the Big O.
Then there are the mishaps. The roof ripped in 1989 during a tractor show and thousands had to leave. In January 1998, the roof ripped again, pierced by ice and snow, and two Stones gigs had to be cancelled. In 1991, a 55-ton beam fell inside the stadium.
For years now, no events can be held at the stadium between November and April because of the possibility snow and ice could damage the roof.
Someone texted CBC Radio morning show Daybreak on Wednesday to say: FIFA and the Big O and the Olympic Installations Board. What could go wrong?
Well, lots, as the texter knew full well. First off, the games in Canada will be played on 100-per-cent natural grass and to convert the Big O’s artificial surface, they will need a roof that’s partly open. The provincial government has already pledged to replace the current roof, a project that’s supposed to cost $200 million, and that roof is meant to be in place for 2023. Am I the only person who gets the shakes just thinking of a $200-million roof-replacement job happening at the Olympic Stadium?
Oh, and Olympic Installations Board spokesperson Cédric Essiminy told me there are other major renovations that need to be done prior to the World Cup in 2026, including updating the sound system, the seating and the lighting. When he said the lighting renovations were particularly difficult because they don’t make these vintage 1970s light bulbs anymore, I had to hold back the laughter. It was just such a classic Big O knee-slapper.
There are 23 cities bidding for the games, including Montreal, Toronto and Edmonton, and only 16 will be selected. You have to figure the troubled history of our Olympic Stadium won’t help matters. But the bigger question is whether we should even be dumping another $200 million into this odd spaceshiplike structure created by French architect Roger Taillibert.
I nearly fell off my chair when Essiminy said they spend between $20 million and $30 million each year to renovate and maintain the stadium. Keep in mind this is for a place that is not home to one single professional sports franchise. He says “society” made the decision to spend this money, but I don’t buy that argument. No one asked me or the thousands of other Montrealers who have never particularly liked this white elephant.
And I have a bad feeling that this World Cup bid is simply going to inflate that already-tooexpensive price tab.