I once had a beer beside Ray Hudson. When he was the DC coach, they came to Columbus with a must-win game for our playoff chances. The final score was 0-0. After the game, they were showing the post-game press conference on the video board and Ray was being his usual colorful self. Every time he swore, the DC fans would cheer, bang their drums and whatnot. At the bar that night, Ray told me: "Yeah, I got a phone call from the league the next day. If I knew it was Cub Scout night and my words were being aired all over the stadium, I would have watched my language." I'm sure anyone who's ever had a beer with Tommy has had a similarly fun time. My problem with Gus is that he's so damn loud. Every play gets treated the same way. A 3rd-and-4 with a loss for two yards gets treated the same as a 30yd gain from the 45. There was an old article with Jim Nantz where he was talking about the total 180 from the NCAA Final Four to The Masters. He understands you don't announce basketball the same way you announce golf. Gus announced soccer the same way as every other sport.
Has anyone actually gotten their tickets yet? I got a receipt after buying but haven't seen anything pop up in the WC Ticket app yet.
Here's some info on the commercial breaks. There must be a 20 second buffer between when the whistle blows for a hydration break and the start of advertising and networks must return to coverage at least 30 seconds before play restarts. That’s a welcome step to ensure that no action is missed, however it still means that fans could have to sit through at least two minutes of commercials during each half. There are some bizarre rules around the commercials as well. If networks choose to go with split-screen ads, they can only be sold to FIFA sponsors. However, if networks choose to cut away from the game entirely, they can sell full-screen commercials to anyone.
Yeah, no kidding. Just because this is a new development for soccer doesn't mean it's a completely revolutionary concept that no one's ever experienced, ever.
You're both absolutely right, of course. I'm just the messenger. For a ton of stuff throughout history, there's always been people with hope...and people with fear. I think the fear here (not necessarily by me) is a thought of "If they can do this, then where will it end? Might they take a TV timeout at 15 and 60 minutes in the name of profit?" I think the "where will it end?" thought isn't entirely without merit, especially knowing how greedy FIFA is. The traditionalists of wanting two halves of 45 minutes of action? They'll be talking about "the good old days" sooner rather than later. With that said, why the hell they don't just allow the various channels/leagues to sell on-screen ads (like what MLS used to do) is anyone's guess. FIFA could sell the first block or two to Coca-Cola, then sell the next block to Adidas and so forth. "This portion of today's game is brought to you without interruption by Coca-Cola. Always football. Always Coca-Cola."
FIFA is already turning the Champions League final into a super bowl type event. They wanna host the CL final in the US. La Liga is desperate to play games with Barca in Miami. They already expanded and play the Supercopa in Saudi. The Italian play their super cup... I forget where. The EPL has played with the idea of a 39th game abroad for all teams. FIFA, UEFA, and the big European leagues desire to ultra-commercialize the sport is shocking. Europe is turning soccer into an American event already, the sport doesn't need the US to do it. This country sucks for a lot of reasons, but the bad cop in this scenario is already Europe.
It isn't just soccer. The greed across all sports is insane. The NCAA Tournament just expanded from 68 teams to 76 teams so they can do an extra play-in round that will mostly be .500 teams. The NBA and MLB are trying to expand even though 10-15 teams in those leagues aren't trying to win. The NFL is going to add another game to the schedule so that every team is playing a game outside the US every year. WrestleMania in Las Vegas the last two years was $3,000 for a two-night ticket; next year's event is in Saudi Arabia. You can't even avoid the greed by staying home because most leagues require multiple streaming subscriptions. Even concert tickets have gotten ridiculous. Bruno Mars is playing at Ohio Stadium in a couple weeks and tickets in A deck are over $500. The greed is going to kill all forms of entertainment.
And that’s already happening. Concert tours are being cut back or cancelled because of poor ticket sales. The reason? Ticket prices are too high. I’ve heard it called the “blue dot syndrome,” as in there a lot of blue dots of available seats on TicketBastard seating charts.
So these hydration breaks are at the halfway mark of each half—as in 22:30 in? For some reason I had it in my head they were doing this at 30 minutes in. Also—does this apply to all matches or just ones where the temperature or humidity is above a certain number? (I.e., less likely in Toronto, Vancouver, and maybe Foxboro or Seattle Invented?). Or, silly me, that would mean less advertisements…
Fvcking FIFA man... The report does, however, take aim at FIFA. The organizers of the World Cup initially booked thousands of rooms across host cities, then exercised a clause that allowed them to cancel many reservations as the tournament grew closer. The report says that FIFA’s “over-commitment” on room blocks “created an artificial early demand signal that has since unraveled.” The report says the cancellations particularly hit Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Seattle, claiming it sometimes “topped 70 percent of contracted inventory in affected markets.” It had the impact, they claim, of distorting revenue forecasts, staffing plans and World Cup-themed preparations and partnerships. While changes to block bookings are not abnormal ahead of mega-events, the AHLA suggests the hotels needed more “transparency, lead time and a communications process that treats operators as partners.” Instead, they say that many rooms were canceled three months out from the tournament, leaving hotels scrambling to backfill rooms and alter their sales strategies. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/72...unlocked_article_code=1.glA.iW40.-KiK4Mb4bI2C
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/articles/bts-madonna-shakira-headline-world-041821226.html BTS, Madonna and Shakira will be performing at halftime. Traditionalists, naturally, hate the idea. Law 7.2 states halftime can only be adjusted with the referee's permission.
https://nypost.com/2026/05/17/us-ne...-his-iconic-whaling-wall-mural-for-world-cup/ An iconic mural was painted over because FIFA apparently didn't like it. “They picked the wrong artist, I can tell you that. I am going to go after them and go after them hard. I am going to ask the community of Dallas to stay with me.” The comedy here is that Wyland (the artist) thinks FIFA actually gives half a crap what he thinks.
Ecuador vs Guatemala is at 4pm Sunday at SMG Field. Tickets are still available, but if you can't go or just don't want to, Fanatiz has the game. A free trial is available. https://www.fanatiz.com/
Reading through this article from the Sun https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/39274757/world-cup-stadiums-banned-items-detained-host-country/ (yeah, I know, F-them and all, but it popped on my feed) I had zero clue that taking a vape pen into Mexico is hella-illegal. It seems like a funny line to draw in the sand, what with cartel problems and other issues their law enforcement cannot deal with and all. Slapping a >$10k fine and potential prison time is crazy.