Are locals excited about Vancouver hosting games in the 2026 World Cup?

It's still more than two years away, but with the dates already set for the 2026 World Cup matches in Vancouver, locals can start looking forward to the massive soccer tournament arriving in their backyard.

In total Vancouver will see seven games, which is slightly above the average for host cities (for example, Toronto and Seattle only have six). It's unclear which teams will play here, since most haven't qualified, but two games will feature Canada.

BC Place may be one of the smallest venues ot host games, but it's still expected thousands of visitors will be arriving in Vancouver to be here during the games.

It's unclear what the economic impact of the tournament will be, as there are several costs (but it's uncertain how much they'll be) balanced with the influx of immediate tourist spending on top of the long term benefit of exposure during the World Cup.

With that in mind, V.I.A. polled readers about how they feel about the incoming sporting event.

A lack of excitement seems to be the winner, as more than half of all readers "don't really care" at this point.

However, there appears to be a split in readers in Vancouver compared to readers in general; that split shows locals are more likely to have an opinion. Locals seem more excited, with more than 38 per cent saying they're looking forward to it, compared to under 34 per cent of general readers.

On the flip side, a few more locals aren't excited, though that difference is smaller at just over 1 per cent.