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Toronto’s preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup reached a milestone last Tuesday as media were invited into Toronto Stadium (the name for BMO Field in relation to all FIFA events) for a tour of the first phase of renovations. Led by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment COO Nick Eaves and FIFA World Cup 26 Toronto Secretariat Executive Director Sharon Bollenbach, the tour offered the clearest picture yet of how the city-owned stadium is being reshaped ahead of next summer’s big event.
The most visible changes are the four new LED video boards installed in each corner of the stadium bowl. Measuring 50 by 30 feet with more than five million pixels each, they replace the single north-end scoreboard and immediately change the character of the venue. “We’re creating a world-class stadium here that can be used as part of the leveraging for other major events to come in the future,” said Bollenbach.
Alongside the visible upgrades on the field, the tour also highlighted work happening behind the scenes. Reporters were led into the reconfigured video production control room, described by Eaves as “the brains” of the stadium. “You can imagine that (for) an event which is going to be broadcasted around the world, seen by literally billions of people, broadcast quality is a real priority,” he noted.
The control room now drives every element of the in-stadium experience: the public address system, lighting, scoreboard displays, and in-game entertainment. The system has been fully rewired, with redundant power and cabling installed to meet FIFA’s demanding broadcast standards. Tyler Rowe, MLSE’s Director of Venue Technology, explained how his team “flipped the room by 180 degrees to better position our view of the pitch” and constructed a new sound booth to isolate national anthems and field microphones. The upgrades also expand the venue’s capacity to share international broadcast feeds, turning the room into a centralised hub for both in-stadium programming and global media distribution. These upgrades to the control room will remain long after 2026, keeping the venue’s production infrastructure at a state-of-the-art standard.
Behind the stands, a brand-new west kitchen, with a stainless-steel expanse, will handle the bulk of food service for both tournament crowds and future seasons. Its expanded capacity will allow the stadium to serve significantly more fans at peak times, and officials noted it was built with flexibility in mind to adapt for different events, from World Cup match days to Toronto FC or Argonauts games. This improvement supports the broader rollout of “Just Walk Out” concession technology across more concourses, intended to speed up transactions and reduce lineups. The kitchen and concession upgrades reflect another permanent infrastructure investments aimed at improving fan experience in the long run.
Alongside these changes, player spaces have been refreshed, including renovated dressing rooms that meet FIFA’s equal-quality requirements for both teams, and the conversion of four suites into an 80-person hospitality lounge.
While most of the above-mentioned improvements are permanent, the most significant temporary addition will come later this year when 17,000 temporary seats are installed. Ten thousand will rise at the north end and another seven thousand at the south, lifting capacity to more than 45,000 for the World Cup tournament. The seating will be dismantled once the tournament ends, though the north stand will retain new hospitality and patio areas for Toronto FC and Argonauts matches.
The project is being completed in two phases. Construction will pause in October to host the Northern Super League women’s final, then resume in mid-November for the seating build-out, stadium rebranding, and security perimeter setup. FIFA will take control of the site on May 12, one month before Canada’s men’s national team makes its World Cup debut here on June 12.
For the City of Toronto, the upgrades are part of a broader $146-million stadium renovation funded primarily by the city, with MLSE contributing $23 million. The upgrades continue a steady evolution since BMO Field’s opening in 2007 and its $100-million expansion in 2015. Unlike those earlier projects, however, this round is tied to an international deadline. Nevertheless, beyond just temporary seats and FIFA signage, the lasting impact will be a more modernised stadium with technology and infrastructure that will stay long after 2026. What began as a modest soccer-specific ground nearly two decades ago is being reshaped into a venue equipped for the global stage.
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