No World Cup bump for Vancouver’s tattoo parlours, but there’s hope
All that could change if Canada does well at the highly anticipated Canada vs. Switzerland game on Wednesday at B.C. Place
By Denise Ryan
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In a backroom at Robson Piercing and Tattoo Studio, Josh Burns, also known as Josh the Dragon, is stretched out, getting a soccer ball surrounded by a heart inked on his leg.
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The Granville Street busker, who has been doing brisk business fire-breathing and sword-swallowing and managing the boa constrictors tourists can pose with for $10, is celebrating. Not soccer, so much, he explains, but everything the World Cup brings: “Yesterday I had my biggest audience ever, 1,200 people.”
Across Vancouver, tattoo parlours have displays offering flash tattoos: soccer balls, soccer balls embedded in the Maple Leaf, flames or a whitecapped wave and, of course, the ‘Cup’ (not FIFA trademarked, of course), anticipating that the crowds might want some ink to remember this World Cup.
Although tribute tattoos and ink commemorating wins, games and, of course, Messi, are part of World Cup culture globally, business in Vancouver has been a little slower than anticipated.
At Adrenaline Tattoo on Granville, store manager Amanda Crane said their artists have done a few — one soccer mom came in for a soccer ball wreathed in flowers — but they aren’t seeing a bump in business like the local bars are.
There are more people outside than inside the tattoo parlours on the Granville Street fan zone.
All that could change if Canada does well at the highly anticipated Canada vs. Switzerland game on Wednesday at B.C. Place.
Commemorative soccer tattoos may be a World Cup phenomenon, but they’re more likely to happen when a team wins. After Argentina won the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, breaking a 36-year drought, tattoo artists across the country reported a stampede of fans getting Messi, and his No. 10; some even the whole team inked on their bodies.
Adrenaline has even invited all members of Team Canada to come for a free soccer-related flash tattoo. Owner David Nixon isn’t sure players are allowed to be tattooed during a tournament, especially on game day: There could be an infection risk. But there is one special player who won’t be on the field Wednesday, who he’s reserving time for.
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“(Ismael) Kone could come in and get one. We hope he does,” said Nixon.
FIFA doesn’t bar players from having tattoos. They represent one of the few opportunities for self-expression available for players who must follow the strict rules of the game, including Rule 4 explicitly prohibiting players from displaying “political, religious or personal slogans” on their jerseys and equipment
They might even be helpful. According to a study, at the Cup in 2018, the goal success rate of penalty-takers with tattoos was found to be slightly higher than that of penalty-takers with no tattoos; they were more likely to be observed in the forward field positions and play longer; and to have more “aggressive, extroverted, risk-taking and dominant behaviour.”
Across from Adrenaline, at Granville Street Tattoos, tattoo artist Masi Aghdam gamely points out a board with a selection of small, flash tattoos featuring a mix of soccer balls and Vancouver scenery aimed to capture soccer fans that might be visiting from afar.
“It’s been slower than most summers,” she said. “Usually we get a lot of tourists who want mountains and trees. Not this year.”
However, at the FIFA store on Granville Street, Dave Goddard turns a leg to show what a soccer tattoo should look like. Goddard, who hails originally from Grimsby, England, proudly sports the three lions, the coat of arms for Team England, tattooed on the side of his calf.
“This is historical,” said Goddard, who has yet to add a star above the badge signifying England’s one Cup win.
“Hopefully I’ll be adding two,” he says.
Vancouver’s tattoo parlours are ready and willing to give visitors something to remember the Cup by, even if it doesn’t have anything to do with what happens inside B.C. Place.
Passing the hat has been extremely lucrative since the whole extravaganza began June 11 for Josh the Dragon.
It’s all been a win for him.
