Let The Soccer Come: US Picks Final Cities For FIFA World Cup Bid
Posted: Friday, January 15, 2010
by Asher Ricard
The United States has been finalizing its big to be chosen as the host country for the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup.
By now, you know the significance of the World Cup. This year it is held in Africa. From the advertisements on television, one can see what a huge deal it is to be chosen as a host country.
The United State Bid Committee released the 18 cities that made the cut as host cities. If the United States is chosen as the host country, all 18 cities could see major games played in their city.
"Just by virtue of the quality of our cities and stadiums, it was very difficult to reduce the field to the maximum of 18 established by FIFA. In fact, we could have submitted 24 cities and stadiums, making it possible for the United States to hold two World Cups simultaneously," Downs said. “We consider it a meaningful indicator of the significant growth of soccer in this country that we can put forth such a technically sound bid without four of our cities that served as hosts for the first FIFA World Cup™ in the United States in 1994. The emergence of passionate followings for the sport and state-of-the-art venues throughout the country has strengthened our ability to put together a truly national bid to host the FIFA World Cup™ in 2018 or 2022."
So what cities made the cut? Here is the list.
Seattle, Washington
Denver, Colorado,
Los Angeles, California
San Diego, California
Phoenix, Arizona
Kansas City, Kansas
Dallas, Texas
Houston, Texas
Nashville, Tennessee
Miami, Florida,
Tampa Bay, Florida
Atlanta, Georgia,
Washington D.C.
Indianapolis, Indiana
Baltimore, Maryland
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
New York, New York
Boston, Massachusetts
Due to FIFA's eighteen city maximum, nine host cities had to be eliminated. In alphabetical order, they are: Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Jacksonville, Oakland, Orlando, St. Louis and San Francisco.
The World Cup is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 final. The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation over a period of about a month. You can see what a big deal this could mean to the United States.
To view a press conference of the announcement, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6buOY-ETZo
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