Hard hats and orange cones have been a frequent sight at B.C. Place for well over a year amid a flurry of construction. With a month to go before the FIFA World Cup comes to Vancouver, the stadium's facelift is nearly complete.
"I'm very pleased to share that final touches are being completed on our stadium upgrades and renovations, and that we continue to remain on time and on budget," Chris May, the stadium's general manager, said at a press conference.
Tournament Overview
The World Cup kicks off in Mexico City and Guadalajara on June 11. This year's tournament will be the biggest ever, with 48 nations taking part. A total of 104 games will be played in 16 host cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico.
Vancouver Games at B.C. Place
Seven games will be staged at B.C. Place, starting with a group-stage battle between Australia and Turkey on June 13.
Canada kicks off its schedule June 12 against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto before heading to Vancouver for its two remaining group stage games.
Toronto Stadium Preparations
BMO Field, renamed Toronto Stadium during the tournament, had a successful dress rehearsal Saturday when Inter Miami beat Toronto FC 4-2 in Major League Soccer play. Some 17,000 grandstand seats were used for the first time as a record crowd of 44,828 took in the action.
The addition of the extra sections was required to lift BMO Field past the 40,000 minimum capacity required by FIFA. Six World Cup games will be played at the lakefront stadium, which has undergone a $146 million renovation.
The city paid for $123 million of the upgrades, while Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment put in $23 million.
B.C. Place Upgrades
Work was still underway at B.C. Place on Friday, with blacked-out fences shielding onlookers from much of the activity. Workers in hard hats and fluorescent vests could be seen walking the concourse.
Outside, large metal barriers were being erected around two parking lots across the street. Last June, the B.C. government pegged the provincial cost of hosting at between $532 million and $624 million, including a $196-million upgrade of the 55,000-seat stadium.
First opened in 1983, B.C. Place hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2010 Olympics and the 2015 Women's World Cup. Taylor Swift also played the final three shows of her Eras Tour there in December 2024.
Recent Improvements
In recent months, three new elevators have been added, a new scoreboard has been installed, and locker rooms have been upgraded. A temporary grass playing surface is replacing the venue's artificial turf.
Turf Preparation
Trey Rogers and his team from Michigan State University and the University of Tennessee were tasked with figuring out how to grow grass inside the stadium and at the 15 other venues hosting World Cup games.
Vancouver's field is looking good, according to the turfgrass expert: "I think the whole thing is in fantastic shape. It is very apparent to me that the citizens of Vancouver are really into telling the world, 'Let's show them what we can build.' And every indication leads me to believe that it's going to be successful."
Rogers and his team first started talking about the World Cup playing surfaces back in 2020 and have since overcome a variety of challenges to create similar playing experiences across all 16 venues.
Getting some products and parts into the Mexican host cities took more time than expected. Many of the American buildings, generally used for football instead of soccer, had to undergo infrastructure changes, including the removal of 10 rows of seats at the stadium in Kansas City.
Five of the venues are in warm climates and will use Bermuda grass.