Pot shops have high expectations from World Cup fans, tourists

The garish bong is just one of the ways Canadian cannabis stores are hoping to score with local soccer fans and tourists attending the first World Cup in a place that has legalized weed.

While no one expects cannabis to overshadow the action on the field, many foresee at least a marginal lift in pot sales and dispensary foot traffic when Toronto and Vancouver play host for their combined 13 matches in June and July. (The remainder of the tournament will take place in the U.S., where some states have also legalized weed, and Mexico.)

The BC Liquor Distribution Branch, which supplies the province’s pot shops with product, is forecasting a “moderate” increase in cannabis demand on match days in Vancouver’s downtown core. Its Ontario counterpart pegged the potential sales boost some businesses near the action could see at 10 per cent.

“When you look at it on a micro level, there are certain stores that are right by the stadiums and they could go through multiple days of inventory and sales in one or two days,” said Mandesh Dosanjh, president of Inspired Cannabis Co.

His chain has several stores in downtown Vancouver, where B.C.’s allotment of games are being played. During the World Cup, they’ll be decked out in flags and on match days will offer promotions to draw more people in.

Dosanjh expects his customers to be a mix of locals looking for something to add to their World Cup experience and visitors who find being able to buy weed legally “mind blowing.”

“The whole concept of I can now shop cannabis, like I would shop groceries or other things, that’s pretty cool to them,” he explained.

In anticipation of newbies giving cannabis a whirl during the World Cup, regulators and store owners are making education part of their tournament prep.

Some of those education efforts mean teaching the public the basics — where people can use cannabis, how old they have to be to buy it and how much of the substance they can carry at one-time — but a lot of it is also reminding the public that illicit sellers remain and their products are often riskier than what legal retailers have.

To get that point across, the Ontario Cannabis Store has been wrapping transit streetcars and stations, Pearson and Billy Bishop airports and the SkyWalk bridge between Union Station, the CN Tower and Rogers Centre with ads reminding fans to “avoid those who play dirty.”

About 400 legal pot shops in areas where World Cup traffic is likely to be high have also received “Ontario Authorized” window signs, OCS spokesperson Solomon Israel said in an email.

When the matches begin, Kady expects even more questions from tourists unfamiliar with Canadian cannabis laws and an increase in requests for delivery from fans wanting some pot to accompany their at-home spectating.

He’s already been fielding emails from Swedish, Norwegian and Brazilian tourists set to visit during the World Cup and wanting to double check that he’s selling legal cannabis and offers delivery.

If projections from the OCS are correct, Kady could be looking at a double-digit jump in sales.

The provincial pot distributor, which sells products directly to customers online in addition to stocking about 1,800 shops in Ontario, has studied how large events like concerts and sports matches impact cannabis sales at stores within two kilometres of host venues.

The research suggests major events are associated with a 10 per cent increase in sales at cannabis stores, relative to control stores located farther away.

Dosanjh regularly sees “peaks and valleys” around concerts, big games and even cruise season.

When Taylor Swift swung through Toronto for six nights during her Eras tour in 2024, Kady said there was an increase in sales at Cosmic Charlies, especially from moms attending the shows with their daughters and wanting discrete edibles like drops to add to beverages or cannabis strips to apply under their tongues.

“I don’t know how much we see during a normal TFC game,” he said, referencing the Major League Soccer team that usually plays at the stadium where Toronto will host World Cup games.

“I don’t think we will see as much as we will for World Cup, but I don’t know. We’re excited.”

In anticipation of the World Cup, Kady said he was stocking up on the kind of novelty items tourists like, such as oversized pre-rolls and moon rocks — buds doused in cannabis oil and rolled in powdery trichomes.

“I saw some soccer ball pipes and I considered it, but I didn’t want to go too crazy,” he said.

Ready-to-consume products such as pre-rolled joints, vapes, edibles, and beverages tend to see the biggest jumps in sales during major events, said the OCS’s Israel.

That squares with Dosanjh’s experience and is why he opted to boost inventory of pot drinks, pre-rolls and vapes in anticipation of the tournament.

He stayed away from kitsch like the trophy bong, which could run afoul of FIFA’s stringent licensing rules. The tournament organizer is notorious for going after any business for promoting itself with even the merest of World Cup references.

Kady’s aware the product could put him in FIFA’s crosshairs but is taking the risk anyway.

“I do hope that FIFA comes and gives me a cease and desist,” he said. “I would frame it. I think it’d be really funny, but we’ll see.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2026.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Pot shops have high expectations from World Cup fans, tourists

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