The Empire Club of Canada Presents
World Cup 2026: A Moment on the World Stage for Toronto
Chairman: Sal Rabbani, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Moderator
Giles Gherson, Toronto Region Board of Trade
Distinguished Guest Speaker
Victor Montagliani, CONCACAF, FIFA
Head Table Guests
Bill Manning, President, Toronto FC & Toronto Argonauts, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment
Mark Noonan, Commissioner, Canadian Premier League & CEO, Canadian Soccer Business
Paul-Claude Bérubé, Vice-President, Canada Soccer
Sharon Bollenbach, Executive Director, World Cup Hosting 2026, City of Toronto
Kelly Brown, Independent Director, Board of Directors, Canada Soccer
Charmaine Crooks, President, Canada Soccer
Peter Montopoli, Chief Tournament Officer, FIFA World Cup 2026
Kimberly Morris, Chief HR & Services, FIFA
John Tory, Former Mayor of Toronto
Welcome Address by Sal Rabbani, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Good afternoon, and welcome to the Empire Club of Canada. My name is Sal Rabbani, and it’s an honour to stand before our community, both in person and virtually, as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Empire Club.
To formally begin this afternoon, I want to acknowledge that we are gathering today on the traditional and treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the homelands of the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples. We encourage everyone to learn more about the Traditional Territory on which you work and live.
Today marks the start of Black History Month. Every February, people across Canada participate in events and festivities that honour the legacy of Black Peoples. The theme this year is “Black Excellence: A Heritage to Celebrate, a Future to Build.” This is a great reminder of the incredible contributions, and the potential Black people are bringing to this country. A week ago, we recognized and celebrated on this stage the Nation Builder of the Year recipient, one of the most inspirational people in Canada, Wes Hall, a supercharged entrepreneur, and change-maker, and one of the many incredible Black leaders in Canada. We’re also inviting you all to join us on February 28th, for the Empire Club of Canada’s celebration of Black Excellence in History, a panel of inspirational Black women discussing their careers and paths to success.
Turning to today’s event, if you’re a soccer fan—and as I know, there are many in this room and online with us today—and so, if you are a soccer fan, you know, that every four years, something magical and something important happens: it’s the World Cup. Maybe it takes a bit more time to appreciate its magnitude and importance—especially for the hardcore hockey fans in all of us Canadians—but the World Cup is globally significant. It has existed since 1930. And every four years, it’s a moment of sportsmanship, of celebration, but also, a moment of opportunity for the cities and countries hosting it.
A warm welcome to our guests today, Giles Gherson, the President and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, and Victor Montagliani, President of CONCACAF, and Vice-President of FIFA. We couldn’t be in better company to learn what the World Cup 2026 will mean for us, and for Toronto. I’d also like to take a pause to salute and welcome the many athletes with us today. Thank you for joining us. Your energy, passion, discipline, and determination, are a source of inspiration for all of us. Thank you to Toronto High Park FC, the Markham Soccer Club and Alliance United, North Toronto Soccer Club, and the Milton Soccer Club, to name a few, for being here with us today.
There are many parallels to be drawn between sport and business—and particularly between soccer and business: teamwork, innovation, resilience. How soccer teams unite around the goal of scoring, as we continue towards achieving our business results. Soccer teams are a unique mix of cultures, talents, and strengths. This is a sport that unites millions of fans across the world. You know, and for me, this idea of unity and teamwork is what stands out the most, when I think of the World Cup that’s coming to Toronto in 2026. In a world that—in a society, I guess—that’s more and more polarized, when I heard that Canada, the United States, and Mexico came together to place a united bid to host the World Cup games, I thought that to be truly symbolic and powerful. It goes to show that there are many ways for our three countries to work together beyond NAFTA. This will be the first World Cup since 2002 to be hosted by more than one nation. And with three countries, 16 cities, and 48 teams—more than previous editions—the FIFA World Cup 2026 is expected to be the most inclusive and diverse sporting event ever.
Now, I know 2026 seems far away right now, as we are barely stepping into 2024. Yet two years from now, Toronto will join Vancouver—the only other Canadian city to host the World Cup—and 14 other major cities in the United States and Mexico, in welcoming thousands of fans and visitors from around the world. These people will come to Toronto for the games. And this will have direct and indirect benefits for many sectors, especially our hotels and restaurants—the majority of which are all local small and medium-sized businesses, with many struggling right now against a backdrop of weakening demand and economic uncertainty.
It’s important to look ahead at the opportunities this major competition will open for our city, and also to plan ahead, to maximize its economic impact for Toronto. Are there other industries outside the hospitality sector that can scale up or prepare for this activity, generating opportunity that the World Cup will bring? It’s a question. Can the business ecosystem come together to better promote any of these opportunities, to build awareness and readiness amongst businesses, and especially among small and medium-sized businesses? The tournament will create jobs, and is expected to generate millions of dollars in local GDP. And so, should local businesses look at diversifying their offerings—and if yes, in what directions—to respond to these opportunities? And what can the younger generation, many in the room today, what can they take from this, beyond inspiration, and the passion of the game? I look forward to the conversation, and I’m sure that there’s a lot to learn and to prepare, as a business community, between now and 2026. To use a soccer pun, the FIFA World Cup can really kick up a city’s economy, and now it’s up to us to score its economic goals.
The Empire Club is a not-for-profit organization, and we’d like to recognize our sponsors, who generously support the club, and make these events possible and complimentary for our online viewers to attend. Thank you to our Lead Event Sponsors, the Canadian Premier League and Toronto FC. And thank you to our Season Sponsors, Amazon Web Services, AWS, Bruce Power, and Hydro One.
It is now my pleasure to invite Bill Manning, President of the Toronto FC and Toronto Argonauts, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, to the stage. Welcome.
Opening Remarks by Bill Manning, President, Toronto FC & Toronto Argonauts, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment
Thank you. Really, really pleased to be here today. I reminded Victor, five years ago, Victor came and spoke here. And there are many, many, many dignitaries here today, and many people involved in the World Cup. But I do want to recognize one individual, if you could give him a round of applause—former Mayor John Tory. This World Cup never would have happened without you.
So, I have the honour of introducing my friend Victor today. And five years ago, when I introduced Victor, I introduced him as Victor Montagliani. And I am a professed “Mangia cake,” as my Italian-Canadian friends would call me. And over time, learned it’s all—it’s not in the spelling, it’s in the pronunciation. So, Victor Montagliani is our guest speaker today. And he is an amazing man. And over the last five years, we’ve developed a real friendship. And there are three things that I’ve found are really important to this man, and what drives him every day. The first is his family. He’s been married over 30 years, he’s the proud father of two daughters. And for a man who does not have a lot of time, he makes time for his family. And we’ve talked about that in our private conversations, and that tells you a lot about the person.
Second is friends. If you meet someone who’s in the world of soccer, they’re friends with Victor. And he has more friends than I can count—everyone in this room, if you meet Victor, he will be your friend. And if you think about the world of sport and the world of business, building alliances, having relationships, these are all things that Victor does because he builds friendships, and that’s how you can get a lot done. What he did with Canada, when he was president here in Canada, he brought a country together to really put the sport in Canada, you know, to a world level, where we qualified for the World Cup. He’s brought CONCACAF together. You know, when Victor took over as CONCACAF president, they were in a lot of trouble. And now, he’s brought that organization together. And he’s built it with friends, and he has many friends along the way.
The third F—family, friends, football. This man loves the sport of football. We call it soccer here, but it is football in his heart. He grew up playing the game. He has [indiscernible] roots, and his father played the game, his brother played the game. He played back when the ethnic clubs ruled the sport of soccer—and some of us who played in those days, you earned your bones by playing with all the different nationalities. And this man did that. And then, he had an opportunity to take over as president at Canada Soccer—he was president of BC Soccer—and he challenged our entire country to be better, and to shoot for the stars. And now, our women’s team winds up winning two bronze medals, then the men’s team qualifies for the World Cup after 36 years. And he wasn’t even the president at that time, but it was what he laid down—the foundation that he laid down for this country. And I see him now doing it with CONCACAF. He’s now representing, I think it’s 41 countries, right? In our region. And he’s telling South America, he’s telling Europe, “Watch out for us. Watch out for Canada, watch out for the US, watch out for Mexico, watch out for Honduras.” And it’s his love of football. He loves the sport of football.
And so, if you can combine a man who has, you know, 30-plus years of marriage, a solid foundation with his family, friends all over the world, and a love for the sport of football, you’re a unicorn. And so, I’m really proud to welcome my friend, Victor Montagliani, Giles as well—there’ll be a short video. But today, again, this World Cup, coming here to Canada in 2026, there’s many of us responsible. But Victor is the man most responsible for this World Cup. So, thank you.
Giles Gherson, Toronto Region Board of Trade
There we go. Welcome, Victor, to your second tour at the Empire Club. So, great to have you here. You’re the man of the hour. Now, before we dive into your roles at FIFA and CONCACAF, and of course the 2026 World Cup, which everybody wants to hear more about, I think your new friends in this room would love to hear a little bit more about your story. You’re probably Canada’s preeminent football fan, soccer fan. Here you are. You grew up in Vancouver. Soccer is a really big part of your life. You played at a high level, Columbus FC, in Vancouver. And for eight years, you’ve been the Canadian at FIFA, and of course you were president of Soccer Canada, as Bill said; now, you’re heading CONCACAF as well, and you have done so for a number of years now. And Canada is hosting—talk about being in the right role at the right time. Tell us a little bit about that.
Victor Montagliani, CONCACAF, FIFA
Yeah. First, thank you, Bill, for your kind words; my mom just phoned me, she says the gnocchi are ready anytime you come to Vancouver, so…
Giles Gherson
Got a long way to go.
Victor Montagliani
…she appreciates the pronunciation as well. No, I mean, obviously, like many, many immigrants in this country, I grew up with the ball at my feet, really, to be honest with you. And it was really the sport of choice in the family. You know, and this is the beauty about our sport in Canada. It’s really, you know, it’s—I almost find it ironic in some ways that we’re, I’m speaking now, after all these years, at a place called the Empire Club. And I’ve spoken at, you know, boards of Trades, or whatever, because our sport has never really been a sport of the institution of Canada, or governments.
Giles Gherson
Right.
Victor Montagliani
It’s been the sport of the immigrant. And the immigrant has really driven the sport in this country. And you, you see it, you see it in their eyes when you talk to them. You see it when they cheer their, you know, their old countries, when they cheer their new countries. And, you know, I grew up in that system. And I grew up in that system, but always knowing that the most important thing to me was, you know, the flag. Because, like most immigrants that come here, you know, they’ve built this country, and the immigrants have built our sport. And if you look at our players that are on the pitch, they’re all sons or daughters of people that came to this country that, you know, our country embraced them. And now, they’re giving back by playing for their country. And so, for me, that’s always been a key driver for me—you know, sometimes subconsciously—but it’s, it’s really, for me, been the driver, and why the sport is.
Now, I think we have an opportunity. And I think the opportunity started a while back, you know, back when I became president, in 2012, of Canada Soccer. We, we recognized early on that the key to the sport was bringing in events. So, you know, we started with the Women’s World Cup, which was…
Giles Gherson
Right.
Victor Montagliani
…an incredible event, and the U-20’s as well, and then obviously, bidding and winning for the Men’s World Cup. And we know that these events are the events that break down those walls, where you go from being an immigrant sport to a mainstream sport. And so, to me, the key for ’26, is really the sport grabbing the hearts of all Canadians…
Giles Gherson
And mainstreaming, as you say.
Victor Montagliani
…and mainstreaming that. And you know, it’s kind of funny to say that, because the president of TFC, you know, probably the best club in the MLS historically, and one that really changed the landscape…
Giles Gherson
Yeah.
Victor Montagliani
… and culture in the MLS, who just, you know, introduced me—and then you’ve got the Canadian Premier League, the other sponsor, a league that started in Canada. You’d think we are mainstream. We’re not there yet. And I think this World Cup will be the ultimate kicking down the door of….
Giles Gherson
So, maybe a tipping point, right?
Victor Montagliani
I think it will be. I think it will be a tipping point, yeah.
Giles Gherson
And you know, when you describe what you’ve done in your role, as a player, and as an executive in, you know, at FIFA and CONCACAF, and Soccer Canada. You’ve got a business background. You’re not just a sporting guy…
Victor Montagliani
No.
Giles Gherson
…you’re not just a football guy. You’ve, you’ve got a business background. You’ve got a significant insurance business that you built.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah.
Giles Gherson
Tell us a bit about that. Because I think that’s really important in understanding who you are, and why you’ve been able to do what you’ve been able to do.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah, I mean, you know, I’ve been lucky enough in my career—I mean, the sport has really given me everything. Even how I approach business, in terms of creating a team atmosphere, understanding those dynamics in a locker room, and what makes a team strive. And I think that has spilled out into my corporate world. And I have a great business partner; we built a national brokerage firm, you know, from really zero, in 2012, to over 400 employees now, coast-to-coast. And, and it’s a great culture that we have. And so, and you know, you learn. And so, the funny thing is, the football world is different…
Giles Gherson
From?
Victor Montagliani
…from the corporate world.
Giles Gherson
Yeah. Yeah.
Victor Montagliani
It’s very difficult to take, and I see a lot of guys in the football world, and the corporate world—there are a few of us in this room that have this dynamics—it’s very hard to take what you’ve learned in the corporate world, and bring it to football. Football is a different dynamics.
Giles Gherson
To culture?
Victor Montagliani
To culture. Totally different culture, how people grow up in it, how people look at numbers. It’s different. Like, your return on equity and your EBITDA is not important in football, okay?
Giles Gherson
It’s a passion, right?
Victor Montagliani
Yeah, it’s not important in football—it’s important to a degree. But you look at things different, evaluations are different.
Giles Gherson
Don’t say that to Bill, though. He, he has….
Victor Montagliani
No, I know—yeah, well, he’s got to win, at the end of the day. But, and so, I think, but there are some things you can bring, obviously. But it’s a different dynamic—and you learn that, sometimes, the hard way in our sport. But it’s a different beast altogether.
Giles Gherson
That’s really interesting. I mean, one of the things, you know, that when I think, to the uninitiated, as you say, it’s not a mainstream sport yet. So, understanding the international structure of it, you know. We’ve all heard of FIFA. We all know FIFA, sort of. CONCACAF is not something that trips off the tongue, I have to say. And…
Victor Montagliani
Trust me, I tried to change the name too. But I couldn’t figure it out.
Giles Gherson
That’s your next big objective. But tell us a little bit about CONCACAF, because how Canada got into the World Cup, is through CONCACAF.
Victor Montagliani
Correct.
Giles Gherson
And, but a lot of people wouldn’t know that, or really be aware of that. So, it’s an important regional entity, right?
Victor Montagliani
Yeah, so we’re one of the very few sports where you have to actually qualify for a World Cup; you don’t just go. And you have to qualify through your Confederation—there are six in the world, we’re one of them. And so, we’re 41 countries, with 41 realities. We have the poorest country in the world, Haiti, and we have the richest country in the world, the US. We have Montserrat, the smallest population of 5,000 people. And if you ever go watch a game there, 80 percent of the country is in the stadium. So, that’s kind of a cool thing.
Giles Gherson
A big stadium, or a small country?
Victor Montagliani
It’s a small stadium.
Giles Gherson
Okay.
Victor Montagliani
It’s awesome, actually.
Giles Gherson
Okay.
Victor Montagliani
But the reality is, is that, you know, when I did take over CONCACAF in 2016, kind of 2015, with an emergency committee, and if, you know, when I took it over, we were morally bankrupt—just watch Netflix, and you’ll see that—we were financially bankrupt, literally, and we were football bankrupt. Which is probably more important, as important than the other two.
Giles Gherson
What do you mean by that? Just no….
Victor Montagliani
We had no football.
Giles Gherson
Yeah.
Victor Montagliani
You know, we had the Gold Cup. We had nothing on the women’s side.
Giles Gherson
No events, really.
Victor Montagliani
No events. We had nothing. No equity in the game. And so, we decided to change all that. And the first thing we changed was our philosophy to be a football-first organization. What I mean by that is that every decision you make, right, has to be for the game. And if you don’t have that DNA, it’s very difficult to push your organization forward. And why? Because everybody wants a piece of this game. There’s always agendas, there’s always this, there’s always that. But if you don’t have a football-first mentality, right? You’re going to lose your way. And so, we have to—we, we changed that. And so, what we did is, you know, we built competitions, both on the women’s side, and obviously, on the men’s side. We’ve got our Nations League, our club competition, our Gold Cup, we have a W Gold Cup that is starting…
Giles Gherson
M’hm (affirmative).
Victor Montagliani
… in a few weeks, which Canada is playing in. And we went from a few hundred games a year to, like, over 3,000 games a year, right? In all competitions—youth, senior. And by doing that, we got, you know, we our DNA back. And then, you know, then we built, obviously, the commercial side. And we went from bankruptcy to now, in seven years I’ve been president, we’re a billion-dollar confederation.
Giles Gherson
You’ve done really well with this.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah.
Giles Gherson
But, you know, one of the things that, again, as a Canadian—not to be too self-effacing about it—but you think of FIFA…
Victor Montagliani
Yeah.
Giles Gherson
…and maybe CONCACAF as the sort of impregnable fortresses of foreigners, of international people. And, you know, how does a Canadian elbow their way into the, you know, into the upper reaches of FIFA, and become president of CONCACAF? I mean, that’s an interesting story. You’ve done a hell of a lot with it. But you know, I’m sure getting there wasn’t as easy as it might, might think.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah, to be honest with you, I never thought about it. It’s never like I, you know, when I was president of Canada Soccer….
Giles Gherson
You didn’t lie in bed as a kid saying, “I want to be president”?
Victor Montagliani
I never thought of it, no. I never thought to be president of CONCACAF, or Vice-President; never thought of it. I was just, was doing what I needed to do in Canada. And then, you know, right time, right place, in 2015, you know, the unfortunate incidents of what happened, we all know—I said two-thirds of the executive committee of CONCACAF was “escorted” to Brooklyn by the DOJ. There was a room, not dissimilar to this, where they collected all 41 countries. And the lawyer….
Giles Gherson
FIFA did?
Victor Montagliani
No, not FIFA; CONCACAF.
Giles Gherson
CONCACAF. Okay.
Victor Montagliani
The lawyer collected all 41 countries and said, “We have to have an emergency committee, because we have no more leadership.” A couple of people stood up. I was there for, like, I was there five minutes. And the guy says, “We have to change the face of this organization. We got to change how it looks. That kid from Canada, you’re in.” Me? “Yeah.” And literally, I’m not joking, that’s exactly how it went.
And you know, like anything, you know, when you do something, you better do it and do it right. And from there, it just continued. And we changed our philosophy, and we went to one CONCACAF. Because we used to have—we have 41 countries; but we have seven in Latin America or Central America, we have, obviously, the three in the north, and 31 in the Caribbean. And nobody ever really came together. And, and we decided to have a different philosophy. And the results show that in seven years, everybody’s bought in—from the powers of the US and Mexico, they’ve bought in, to the smallest countries in the Caribbean and Central America. So, you know, it’s not so much how to get in; it’s when you have an opportunity, I guess you take it. And I just, I took my opportunity, and, you know, obviously, the results speak for themselves.
Giles Gherson
Well, presumably, having the structure that you’ve talked about and the way you’ve revved it up in terms of the number of events, that’s got to be good for all the national teams. If you’ve got more events, you’ve got more opportunities to play. Because I think one of the issues with Canadian soccer was there weren’t a lot of opportunities to play before key matches.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah.
Giles Gherson
So, now you’ve got more of that. I think you can attribute that to what you’ve done there.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah, you have more official matches, like Nations League, changing World Cup qualifying format. Because, you know, getting friendlies is not easy. Everybody thinks, “Oh, just pick up the phone and call a country.”
Giles Gherson
Yeah. Fly down.
Victor Montagliani
It doesn’t work that way. And it’s getting harder and harder, because the other confederations are doing what we’re doing, UEFA as well. So, getting a, getting in these friendlies is more difficult. And so, having more official games gives you more opportunities to compete.
Giles Gherson
Now, one of the things about this World Cup that’s different—and I think back in, I think it was 2002, Japan and Korea shared the World Cup. But otherwise, it’s essentially been a single-host event. Here now, as we’ve said, we’ve got three countries, 16 cities, you know, you’re gonna have 104 games. This is a very different event, in many ways, than what’s gone before. Tell us a little bit about that, how that…
Victor Montagliani
Came about.
Giles Gherson
…emerged. Yeah.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah, so it’s actually the first time the bids have been, like, co-hosting bids…
Giles Gherson
Okay.
Victor Montagliani
…because Japan and Korea wasn’t a bid together. No. They bid separately. And in the 11th hour…
Giles Gherson
They came together.
Victor Montagliani
…the FIFA executive and the president at the time, Sepp Blatter, said, “Ah, we’ll give it to both of you. Share it.” But they didn’t bid together. This was the first time countries actually bid together. And how it happened was, actually, from our Canadian perspective, we’re the ones that started the united bid…
Giles Gherson
Oh, really. Okay.
Victor Montagliani
…that was Canada. Yeah. So, it was Canada’s initiative. And how it happened was, it happened at a restaurant in Vancouver, in early 2012 or late 2011, with….
Giles Gherson
An Italian restaurant, or?
Victor Montagliani
An Italian restaurant, yes. Good guess.
Giles Gherson
How did I think of that?
Victor Montagliani
Yeah. So, Peter Montopoli, who was the General Secretary, is here today—and he’s now at FIFA Canda, our Chief Operating Officer. And he was General Secretary of Canada Soccer at the time. Myself, I was just about to be president. And a guy named Walter [indiscernible], who, if you’re in the Olympic circles, is a very famous guy. And Walter, who had worked at FIFA for many years, says “It’s time we bid for the men’s World Cup, now that you’re becoming president. Now, it’s time.” I agreed with him and said, “Let’s go.” Peter just went, “Oh boy, how are we gonna do this?”
So, we kind of put everything together. We were going to bid alone—we weren’t gonna bid together—but we soon realized that you know what? It might be better to do it together. So, actually, the first people we talked to were our Mexican friends. Because our relationship—and I speak Spanish, so that makes it easier, as well. So…
Giles Gherson
Okay.
Victor Montagliani
…and the President, at the time, of Mexico, very good guy. We spoke, said “What do you think, we do it together?” And so, we went to speak to our American friends. And our American friends said, “Nah, nah. We’ll do it ourselves.” And they had just lost the bid to…
Giles Gherson
Okay.
Victor Montagliani
…to Russia for 2018. I said, “Listen, here’s your choice: your choice is, you bid again, and you will lose. I will guarantee you, you will lose. Or you do it with us, you take, you know, 75 percent of the games, or something like that, and you’ll win. Because I’ll bring the maple syrup, the Mexican will bring the churro, and with the maple syrup on the churro, we’ll make you guys look a lot better.” And, and that’s how it came about.
Giles Gherson
You went for it. Good for you.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah. We went for it.
Giles Gherson
Yeah, done.
Victor Montagliani
So, we decided, we launched it in 2017, and obviously, we won it in 2018.
Giles Gherson
So, really, “The Art of the Deal” is your book.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah. I would name it something else, but yeah, yeah.
Giles Gherson
It was very clever. It was very well done. So, you know, you talk about, then, how to divide up the games?
Victor Montagliani
Yeah.
Giles Gherson
Because now you’ve got three hosts, 104 matches, which I think is the, 80 usually, I think, is the…..
Victor Montagliani
No, so it was 80 when we bid.
Giles Gherson
Yeah.
Victor Montagliani
Actually no, when we bid, it was actually 64.
Giles Gherson
Okay.
Victor Montagliani
Then it became 80. And then….
Giles Gherson
104, no?
Victor Montagliani
And then it became 104, last year. Yeah. Yeah.
Giles Gherson
So, that’s a lot of matches. Which is great.
Victor Montagliani
Right.
Giles Gherson
I think Toronto was looking at getting four or five, I hear.
Victor Montagliani
That’s it?
Giles Gherson
Well, you have to tell us. That’s—I think on February 4th, we’re going to have a reveal of some kind.
Victor Montagliani
On Sunday.
Giles Gherson
But you know, here we are, in an intimate room, here. Surely, you can tell us a few things about, about how we might fare.
Victor Montagliani
Well, you know what Orson Welles used to say, right?
Giles Gherson
No, I don’t.
Victor Montagliani
We will sell no wine until its time. So, we’re going to have to wait until Sunday. Obviously, listen, you know, I think Toronto’s done a great job with sort of putting their front foot forward with the City. And so, I think we’re in good shape, from a Canadian perspective, to be in line for some goodies in our basket on Sunday. And, you know, once that’s announced, we, we push forward.
Giles Gherson
Terrific. In fact, I think the province is announcing some funding today, if I’m not mistaken.
Victor Montagliani
I saw that earlier, so that’s great. You know, listen, we have the alignment of the government now, you know, and I think it’s time to get the corporate sector to say, “Hey, let’s go. Now’s the time. There are two years left.”
Giles Gherson
Yeah, I want to talk to you a bit about that, in terms of, obviously, this is huge for the city—Bill talked about it, Sal talked about it, there’s been a lot of—it’s a be a big boost to the business economy of the city. But here, you’ve got this global game coming to a global city. Huge opportunity. You know, what do we have to do to get ready? Because obviously, I mean one of the things about, you know, I guess Bill would even admit that we have an intimate, a more intimate stadium—can I use that word? —intimate stadium than, than other cities. There presumably are some things we’re going to need to do to be fully ready for this. Can you tell us a little bit about that? What do we need to do to be, you know, right on our game, in 2026?
Victor Montagliani
Yeah, I think it, it, it’s—I mean, obviously, the city of Toronto, through FIFA, you know, they have a sort of a commercial package that they’re able to sell to various sponsors. And that’s all great, and I’m sure they’ll do very good with that. But I think, here’s the opportunity—I’m seeing it in other cities. Specifically in the US, where the corporate community has basically taken the adage, you know, don’t ask me what I can do, you know, do what, don’t ask me—it’s that famous JFK quote, right?
Giles Gherson
“Don’t ask what the country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
Victor Montagliani
For the country. And this is the same thing, what you can do for your city, obviously, for your country…
Giles Gherson
Yeah.
Victor Montagliani
…and obviously, what you can do for the World Cup.
Giles Gherson
Yeah.
Victor Montagliani
And so, a lot of the corporate community is coming on board that way. And you know, whether they get it together in groups and, and—because it’s not just about the games. It’s about leaning up to the games. It’s about reaching out to the communities—you know, obviously the diversity of this city is incredible, you know, so there’s a lot of touch points there. And the great thing about the World Cup now, both the Women’s World Cup and the men’s World Cup—although there’s, one’s, one is women playing it, and the other one, men playing there, they actually transcend the gender. So, you have a lot of men that love the Women’s World Cup and watch it, and walk around with jerseys of players…
Giles Gherson
M’hm (affirmative)
Victor Montagliani
…and you got the same on the men. And actually, the World Cup that changed that was Canada, 2015. That was a first World Cup that transcended the gender in terms of the populace and people being interested in it.
Giles Gherson
And of course, the great team.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah. And of course, that. And so, I think what—so this is an opportunity, I think for, for the corporate community to not just, you know, it’s not just a line item on, on your P&L; this is an opportunity to really get engaged on that level. And you know, I think listen, you have a lot of smart people in the corporate community. I, I think there’s a lot of ways to, to figure that out. But this is an opportunity. And I’ve seen it done at many, many cities in US, where they’ve jumped jump on board early.
Giles Gherson
So, large groups of companies.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah, there’s cities that have raised significant amount of funds to help the public sector, and, but also engage other communities. So, I think, you know, there’s an opportunity here leading up for the next two-and-a-half years. And as I said, on Sunday, you’ll get to know, actually crystallize exactly how many games you have. Which obviously, obviously helps…
Giles Gherson
That’ll help concentrate the mind, for sure.
Victor Montagliani
…frame it. Yes, correct.
Giles Gherson
And then, you know, you think about the fan experience—and I think maybe that’s what you’re alluding to, the role that business can play, in terms of ensuring that the fan experience is, is the best it can possibly be. Because I think other, I think US cities, as well, are spending a fair bit of time thinking about that.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah. Because at the end of the day, like, listen, you know, football went through a crisis in in 2015. We all know that. And there’s two things that saved the game, right? One was the players…
Giles Gherson
Right.
Victor Montagliani
…and the second is the fans. Not, not suits, all right? Not governments. There was no bailout. There’s two, two populations that saved football: the players on the pitch, and the fans. That’s it. And so, in the end, it’s our opportunity to, to engage both of them, obviously—and in this case, the fans—as we move forward here, in the next two-and-a-half years.
Giles Gherson
Now the, the, the thing, I gather, you know, when you think about watching football—and there’s going to be a huge television audience, right? I think three billion or more, I think, right? Maybe more.
Victor Montagliani
Total for Qatar was, I think, over five.
Giles Gherson
So, five billion…
Victor Montagliani
Yeah.
Giles Gherson
…I mean, that’s almost everybody in the world. So. So, similar thing. So, you have a massive, massive audience. When you look at the advertising, you think of these large global brands—you know, you see it on the, at the pitch level, and on in the television ads—but I gather, for the first time, local companies will have some opportunity to get some exposure, global exposure.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah, and that’s part of the package…
Giles Gherson
Okay.
Victor Montagliani
…that I talked about. And….
Giles Gherson
So, Toronto companies.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah, absolutely. And I think, and you know, listen, it—we’re putting on 100, more than 104 Super Bowls. That’s actually what it—every game is a Super Bowl or bigger. From a television audience standpoint, exposure—and so, which is a massive undertaking. I mean, this is the biggest, not just sporting event in the world; this will be the biggest event in the world. And the City of Toronto, and even my city in Vancouver, will never, ever, ever have anything remotely close to this.
Giles Gherson
And, but what I said, is that true, that there will be an opportunity….
Victor Montagliani
Yes, there is an opportunity, as I said, with, through, through the city…
Giles Gherson
Okay.
Victor Montagliani
…commercial packages. And then there’s other things, obviously, that, that will come out.
Giles Gherson
Now, you know, when you get these big international events—and we had the Pan Am games here…
Victor Montagliani
Yeah.
Giles Gherson
…not so long ago. Everybody jumps to thinking about legacy infrastructure, and, you know…
Victor Montagliani
Yeah.
Giles Gherson
… that you get from it. And, you know, we, I mean, the Pan Am games is quite remarkable here, in terms of housing, the UP Express, new sporting infrastructure. I think Qatar also used the World Cup last time, in 2022, for a significant boost to sporting infrastructure. What do you think Toronto will be doing, in terms of using the legacy of these games?
Victor Montagliani
So, I think for me…
Giles Gherson
What’d you like to see.
Victor Montagliani
What I’d like to see is, from a legacy standpoint. And, and you’re right, you know, Qatar was a totally different ball of wax—it was almost like nation-building, quite honestly; you know, Russia was even different altogether. So, the great thing about here is, we don’t have to build a stadium, right? Because it’s already here—yes, there’s modifications, whatever. But the reality is, the, I see legacy in, in, in a couple of different levels. One is, obviously, there’s legacies from a social responsibility standpoint, and, you know, in the Federation we’ll be looking at that, even FIFA will be looking at that, there’s the infrastructure. And I know that, for instance, that’s already happening US soccer has announced a National Training Centre.
Giles Gherson
Oh, really? Okay.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah. And I don’t like to put pressure on situations, but I will do it today. Because this is Canada. I think it’s time we get a National Training Centre in Canada.
Giles Gherson
You said it. Does that take a lot? Or, what does, what does that require?
Victor Montagliani
Pitches.
Giles Gherson
Yeah, okay.
Victor Montagliani
Desire, political will, vision.
Giles Gherson
All those things.
Victor Montagliani
I could say other words in Spanish that, that probably are not too nice. But no, I, I, I just think that’s what we need. I think it’s time. I think it’s time we have a place to call our home, from a technical standpoint. You know, we’re building one at CONCACAF, for instance, you know, we just announced that.
Giles Gherson
Where’s that going to be?
Victor Montagliani
In Dominican Republic.
Giles Gherson
Okay.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah. And you know, pitches, little stadium, it’s really for the youth, it’s not for your senior players—although they can train on there—and it’s no different than you know, TFC’s got an academy, and all that. I think it’s time for a National Training Centre. You know, I’ll let others figure that out—but I just want to put it out there, and I think it’s time. But for me, me, a legacy is over and above all that. To me, the legacy from our standpoint, from a Canadian standpoint to me is, you know, that’s all hardware, right?
Giles Gherson
Yeah.
Victor Montagliani
The most important thing for me is the software.
Giles Gherson
Again, making it the….
Victor Montagliani
It’s this.
Giles Gherson
Yeah.
Victor Montagliani
As they say in Spanish, “el corazon.” And to me is, the most important thing for me as a legacy—the World Cup is so unique, right? And in the sense that I’d say two-thirds of the population in the world relate something in their life to the World Cup. A goal, a moment, hand of God, right? And that’s, that was—by the way, the hand of God is dedicated to the English fans in the audience, not the Argentinian ones, ’cause they’re happy about it. You just, it’s, it’s so ingrained in people. And for me, the most important legacy for me—not that those things that I just mentioned are not important—is that the World Cup needs to, needs to light the pilot light of our young people. And that, when they grow up—sure, I’m, I’m not saying they can’t cheer for Manchester United, or AC Milan. But the, the jersey closest to their skin needs to be that [Points to Canadian flag].
Giles Gherson
Well, and, you know, we’ve had some success. The, the women’s team in capturing gold in Tokyo in 2020…
Victor Montagliani
Yeah.
Giles Gherson
… the men’s team playing the World Cup for the second time, and qualifying in 2022—first back-to-back appearances—and now this. I mean, you’ve really got a trajectory here, that, that…
Victor Montagliani
Yeah.
Giles Gherson
… you’ve got momentum, basically.
Victor Montagliani
Yeah, and what I mean by that is, when the jersey is the closest jersey to your skin, it doesn’t matter if they win gold.
Giles Gherson
Okay.
Victor Montagliani
It doesn’t matter if they qualify for the World Cup. It just doesn’t matter. Because it’s yours. It’s on your skin.
Giles Gherson
Yeah.
Victor Montagliani
Win, lose, draw…
Giles Gherson
It’s yours.
Victor Montagliani
…disaster, it’s yours. You are the ultimate, this is what you’re all about. And, and you see it in—you know, I’ve been 190 countries; I see it in pretty much all, all of them, right? And this is, to me, the legacy for our country, for the World Cup. Obviously, everybody wants to win, don’t get me wrong, everybody wants to qualify for a World Cup. But, you know, there is a, there is a, a society in Canada that, if you take our men’s team that wasn’t “successful” until ’22, there was a core of us that still bled that jersey, regardless of the result.
Giles Gherson
Yep.
Victor Montagliani
And what I’m saying is, that population has to increase. And to me, that’s what I think the World Cup can do. Because I think, when that’s ingrained in a 10, 11, 12-year-old, that never leaves you, right? I guess it’s like being a Leafs fan, right? You haven’t won a cup since ’67. So…
Giles Gherson
Pssht!
Victor Montagliani
…but you’re still a Leafs fan.
Giles Gherson
You didn’t…
Victor Montagliani
But that’s what I’m talking about.
Giles Gherson
…you didn’t need to go there.
Victor Montagliani
No, I know. Don’t worry. Canucks haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1911—we weren’t even called the Canucks, so….
Giles Gherson
Well, I think we’re up, out of time. But this has been a fantastic conversation. I just want to thank you for being here, and for all the things you’ve done to make to make, to make football a national sport. So, and, and bringing, bringing it here. But you’ve done an amazing job, and we salute you for it. And we look forward to having you back at the Empire Club.
Victor Montagliani
Thank you.
Sal Rabbani
Thank you very much, Victor Montagliani and Giles Gherson, for dedicating your time to speak with us today. I’d now like to invite to the stage Mark Noonan, Commissioner of the Canadian Premier League, and CEO of Canadian Soccer Business for the appreciation remarks. Mark.
Note of Appreciation by Mark Noonan, Commissioner, Canadian Premier League & CEO, Canadian Soccer Business
Thank you, Sal. I didn’t know there were teleprompters here—I would have probably put, put this thing on one of the teleprompters. But first of all, I’d like to thank the Empire Club for bringing us all together for really, really important, and special moments. So, please give a round of applause to our hosts. I’m standing here not as an individual, but as a member of the Canadian Premier League and Canadian Soccer Business. I couldn’t be here without my board of directors. I have my board chairman Scott Mitchell here; we have our newest member Eduardo Pasquel, the owner of York United FC and a brand-new member to the Toronto Community, so please give them a warm, warm welcome. We have our partners in Canada Soccer, Charmaine Crooks, and board, board members, who volunteer their time tirelessly to help build the sport in this country. So great having you all here.
And we’ve heard a lot about, about Vic—it’s hard, hard to follow that, that that conversation—that we heard about family, and friends, and football. And he started talking about it, but the one thing—he’s got 41 babies, but he want likes one baby the best, and that’s Canada. He never, ever forgets where he’s from. And you think about his rise, beyond Canada, into CONCACAF, to one of the most powerful and influential people in the most powerful and influential sport in the world. The guy never has forgotten where he comes from. Anytime, anywhere in the world, we need something—as this young, fledgling league, developing—we call, we WhatsApp, we find Victor; he will respond to us. Anything that we need. So, Victor, thanks for never forgetting where you came from.
You know, we all got one of these at our tables today. And it talks about a moment on the world stage. This is the moment on the world stage for Toronto, and for Canada. We get one shot at this. The circus is coming to town, and probably, in, in our lifetimes, it’s never ever coming back. This is the moment in time that we cannot waste, and have to, have to put Canada’s best foot forward. So, everybody in this room, look around. All of you are stakeholders. You know another word for stakeholder? Salesperson. We are all salespeople of the most beautiful game in the world that’s coming to Toronto, one of the great cities in the world. And we need all to think about what sort of legacy do we want to leave? How are we going to unify? How are we going to collectively bring the best of what we have, on and off the field, to showcase Canada to new Canadians and into the, the rest of the world. We have one shot, here.
It it’s going to get really real, come this weekend, when they start announcing games and venues and cities it’s just going to start building—you got the COPA América coming this year—it is just going to start building and building and building. And everybody in this room needs to jump on that train, do whatever you can as a stakeholder, whatever you can as a salesperson, to make Canada shine. Thank you very much. Appreciate you give me a moment, moment, here. And here’s the beautiful game.
Concluding Remarks by Sal Rabbani
Thank you. Thank you, Mark, and thanks again to all our sponsors for their support, and everyone joining us today in person or online. As a club of record, all Empire Club of Canada events are available to watch and listen to on demand on our website. The recording of this event will be available shortly, and everyone registered will receive an email with the link.
Join us next week, on Thursday February the 8th, for the Empire Club of Canada’s “Annual Financial Outlook” event, in partnership with TMX, for a dynamic discussion on important emerging topics, providing an opportunity for your organization to get ahead on the issues that will matter in 2024.
Thank you for your participation and support. This meeting is now adjourned, and I encourage you to connect for continued networking in the lobby. Thank you.
