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A32 sports
Diahuebs 16 Juni 2022

FIFA to announce 2026 World Cup US sites, paring from 17

host the announcement. "But I don't All U.S. stadiums forecast capacities
think it's going to take away from the of 60,000 or larger. Three have re-
desire of the soccer fan to attend the tractable roofs and one a fixed roof.
game, wherever their country lands Ten have artificial turf but would
in 2026." switch to temporary grass.

Rothenberg said the decision re- This will be the first 48-nation World
mained uncertain in the final week Cup, up from the 32-team format
between SoFi, which may need pric- used since 1998. In a tournament
ey renovations to create a wider field, likely to run from June 11 to July
and the Rose Bowl. 12, but possibly start and end a week
"Even to this moment, there's calls later, there will be 16 groups of three
going on all day long trying to sort nations. Each team will play two first-
it out," he said Tuesday. "There will round games instead of three as part
be discussions between the LA host of an awkward arrangement in which
committee and FIFA right up almost one nation in each group opens
to the moment of the announcement. against an opponent who will have
The costs of LA are a huge part of the already played. The top two in each
difficulty." group advance to a 32-nation knock-
out bracket.
Just two of the contending stadiums
hosted games in 1994, the Rose Bowl Revenue has skyrocketed: The 1994
joined by Orlando. Dozens of train- Cup drew a record 3.59 million fans
ing complexes have been built for and grossed $580 million, which pro-
MLS teams, creating a far better infra- duced a profit of $133.25 million for
structure than at the first World Cup FIFA and $50 million for the U.S.
(AP) — As FIFA prepares to an- ville, Tennessee; Lincoln Financial in the U.S., when Italy worked out at organizing committee. FIFA said the
nounce the 2026 World Cup sites Field in Philadelphia; Levi's Stadium The Pingry School in Basking Ridge, 2018 World Cup in Russia produced
on Thursday — and make high- in Santa Clara, California; and Lu- New Jersey, and the U.S. practiced $5.357 billion in revenue over the
profile cuts — Alan Rothenberg men Field in Seattle. ahead of its opener on a wind-swept four-year cycle and a $3.533 billion
thought back to when stadiums —Least likely: Paul Brown Stadium field at Oakland University in Roch- surplus.
were picked for the 1994 tourna- in Cincinnati; Empower Field at Mile ester, Michigan. FIFA requires bidders to obtain "a
ment he headed in the United High in Denver; and Camping World limited tax exemption" for FIFA,
States. Stadium in Orlando, Florida. "It's completely different from the teams and other entities involved, and
—In the other countries: Mexico standpoint that in a lot of these cities the Missouri Legislature last month
"They gave the rights to the host City's Estadio Azteca, which hosted there's a base of fans that have been approved a sales tax exemption for
country, and the host country basi- the 1970 and '86 finals and will be- sort of built up because of MLS," said June and July 2026. Chicago dropped
cally ran the whole thing," he said. come the first stadium in three World Tony Meola, the U.S. starting goal- out in 2018 over FIFA's demands.
"Here, everything is done in-house Cups; Guadalajara's Estadio Akron; keeper at that '94 Cup. "We know Rothenberg anticipates many of U.S.
by FIFA. So it's been a really long Monterrey's Estadio BBVA; Toronto's Los Angeles and New York and Mi- states and cities will refuse to comply.
and arduous process. The terms have BMO Field and Vancouver, British ami always had soccer fans, and they
been incredibly difficult for cities to Columbia's B.C. Place. Edmonton, weren't necessarily American soc- "I think that's a fair assumption in
cope with." Alberta's Commonwealth Stadium cer fans, but they were fans of some most of the jurisdictions. Some of
was likely to be dropped. teams around the world. I think we've them, they may just build it into the
Seventeen stadiums in 16 areas re- got just a little bit more of a fever for stadium price and other things, but
mained in contention to be among "This country has even more than 17 the game. From a fan's perspective, getting an actual waiver may be dif-
10-12 selected from the U.S. for the cities capable of hosting the World the infrastructure in the cities are so ficult," he said. "Ultimately, it just
tournament, which will be co-hosted Cup, and it will be a pity for those much more developed. And tickets means another cost that the host
with Mexico and Canada. The U.S. that miss out," said Telemundo's An- will never be a problem in our coun- committee, host city, is going to be
will host 60 of the 80 games under drés Cantor, who has broadcast the try if we host the World Cup every responsible for."
FIFA's plan, including all from the tournament since 1990 and will co- four years."
quarterfinals on, and there was little
doubt over the venues for 10 games
each in the other nations.

Last time, the nine U.S. stadiums
were announced during a Waldorf-
Astoria news conference 816 days
before the opener. This time, the de-
cisions will be revealed by FIFA in a
Fox television studio 1,456 days be-
fore the likely start.

In handicapping the bidders,
there appeared to be several tiers:
—Locks: AT&T Stadium in Arling-
ton, Texas, and Met Life Stadium in
East Rutherford, New Jersey, along
with SoFi Stadium in Inglewood or
the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Califor-
nia.
—In the hunt: Mercedes-Benz Sta-
dium in Atlanta; M&T Bank Stadium
in Baltimore; Gillette Stadium in
Foxborough, Massachusetts; NRG
Stadium in Houston; Arrowhead Sta-
dium in Kansas City, Missouri; Hard
Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens,
Florida; Nissan Stadium in Nash-