there's a wikipedia entry for it. This would be awesome if it does happen. Lots of us have been advocating for something like this for a long time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Pan_American_Championship
This is awesome. Let's make sure we've got a Pan American Championship before we try and put it somewhere... That being said, yeah, let's put it in the US! I think this would really help out the CONCACAF countries too. Say it with me: "Soy americano, como tu."
Yeah reading this, you can see why this hasn't been done before and also why it may not happen again after this or even this particular time. Noone can agree on the location or even if the entire tournament will be held in one place. And why can't they go 8 and 8 from each confederation? Is CONCACAF basically admitting that they suck and don't want to see most of their own teams in this tournament. This is basically an expanded Copa America. I would have rather seen 24 teams. Then again, screw all that, our confederation does suck that much. Forget this entire paragraph.
because conmebol would not agree to it until there are 10 conmebol teams because 8 concacaf teams would mean 4 minnows in the tournament. 24 teams would dilute the quality so much most of the games would be unwatchable.
Yeah because there aren't any of those types of games/teams in the CL, Europa League, Libertadores, Sudamericana ..... right.
I am unreasonably psyched for this considering that I only just read about it over a month after it was announced. I actually threw this together:
I want this to happen but unfortunately it seems Conembol looks like it's dragging it's feet and for some reason they don't want or care for it to happen in the US. Copa America is the only tournament IMO that the US has to pressure the South American for a invite again or give them some money? and from what it looks like its pretty much always Mexico and some random ass invite like Japan but Wales really SA? But yea this seems cool but the Inter Pan American Olympics already has the countries mention and it's mostly dominated by Argentina Brazil and Mexico. Look I understand that most soccer fans in the US want this so MLS/US Soccer can get some much needed boost, but if you approach this as a FUK yea America riches country in the world why wouldnt they want to host it here you'll turn off alot of South Americans/Conembol from what I would recommend is have Canada/USA/Mexico host the tournament. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_at_the_Pan_American_Games Note: Conembol/Nicolás Leoz has entertained the idea but I honestly think is another failed idea that usually always comes to fruition when it comes to Concacaf/Conembol Unification.
We're talking about a fully professional competition here that will perhaps someday equal the Euros. The Pan Am games are not that. CONMEBOL suggested Mexico as a site bc they wanted to keep it in Latin America being the likely reason. However the tournament would be better if kicked off here in the states moneywise. Look, the writing is on the wall. Look at how far the Euros have come in developing a tournament that has gone from being merely the clear #2 international football tournament in the world to something that's even making headway on US television which is quite a feat with no USMNT. This is something that a combined tournament could possibly replicate if given a chance. I think it's strange that CONMEBOL seemingly left the hosting rights in the hands of CONCACAF only to pull out when the decision is finally made. I'd imagine if this thing becomes more than a one-off thing, that it would be hosted in S. America the second time around. However if a joint hosting of this tournament is what CONMEBOL wants to make this thing happen, then a joint tourny is a reasonable compromise. I'd say keep it at two countries at most. Three is too much to coordinate. It's hard enough to do a major tournament with with two nations let alone three. Mexico and the US can co-host but I'd imagine that the reason that CONCACAF chose the US is bc of the money and I'd imagine that they'd still want the final to take place here. Hopefully they can find a way to make this happen.
Gotta say I'd rather have Japan a 6th Concacaf country. Japan were supposed to play CA in 2011 and have played that competition before that. A Argentina/Colombia/Bolivia/Honduras B Brasil/Chile/Ecuador/Costa Rica C USA/Uruguay/Peru/El Salvador D Mexico/Paraguay/Venezuela/Japan* *Or one of Panama, Canada, Jamaica or Guatemala
Look, I don't know how the profits are distributed in a typical continental tournament, let alone one that spans two confederations. What I can say is that if this tournament has anywhere near the global exposure of the Euros (which I think it will), the profits will be immense if it's held in the United States. It's a mouthwatering setup. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, and the USA playing in the world's largest media market, and with the world's best "big event" infrastructure. I can't get the sound of the cash register out of my head.