Montreal missed out on Taylor Swift Eras Tour stop because of Olympic Stadium’s condition: minister

Quebec’s tourism minister confirmed the news that Swifties didn’t want to hear: Montreal missed out on a chance to host Taylor Swift for her highly anticipated Eras Tour.

The reason: the deteriorating condition of Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.

Speaking to reporters in Quebec City on Wednesday, Caroline Proulx said, “Taylor Swift — we missed out on that in Quebec” in reference to the American singer-songwriter who could have lit up the iconic venue in 2024 if it weren’t for its tattered roof bearing no less than 20,000 tears. 

From an economic perspective, Quebec is also missing out, Proulx explained.

“The tourist spinoff money associated with the presence of Taylor Swift in Toronto was $1,600 US per spectator; 42,000 spectators for five days, that’s $350 million that Quebec and its metropolis missed out on because we currently do not have a stadium that could put on the show,” she said.

Swift, who was just named TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year, is bringing her highly anticipated Eras Tour to Canada next year. She has stops in Vancouver and Toronto. 

It’s not just singing superstars who are being sidelined by the stadium — Montreal’s major league soccer team, CF Montreal, will for the first time not hold its home opener in the venue due to work being done to assess the roof replacement. To start the 2024 season the team’s home opener will be outdoors at Saputo Stadium in April.

On Wednesday, Quebec’s tourism minister wouldn’t say how much it would cost to repair the roof, but a report in La Presse said it could be as much as $750 million.

Premier François Legault has said he wants the Big O to return to its former glory, taking into account it wouldn’t be an inexpensive job.

Proulx said the provincial cabinet will study the cost of the roof repairs in January, and that more details about the plan, including timelines, would be revealed by then.

With files from The Canadian Press