Ohio Stadium one of 70 Venues Being Looked at for 2018/2022 World Cup Bid

Having been to several SEC Championship games there, I can honestly say that the Georgia Dome is the Metrodome of the South. The place is an absolute hole. It would be an embarassment to hold a WC game there tomorrow, let alone in another 8-12 years.

 

Eh, I've been to the SEC CG and the SEC Tournament there, and I thought it was fine. But the football game I attended was the '99 game, and I haven't been to the basketball tournament in Atlanta since 2002. I guess it's deteriorated since then? (Maybe too many tornadoes. )

 

Exactly. Then, you'd put the semi-finals and final in the same city if possible.

I forget what tournament it was, but there was a fairly-recent soccer tournament in the USA where early games were in the east, but gradually moved west. Have a team play in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York.

Ideally, the final would be somewhere near the middle of the country, with easy accessibility from all corners of the country.

 

that's kind of what i'd do. That's not to say you can't have the group stage over the whole country, but move east or west as you get to the knock out rounds.

I don't knwo what time zones would do regarding making one coast more preferable over the other (5-6 hours difference between East coast and western europe vs 9-10 hours difference between west coast and western europe).

 

I'm sure almost all the games would be played in the afternoon. A 5 PM ET start time would be ok for Europe, but almost anything after that wouldn't be good. The first game, final, and all other "important" games could start as late at 5 PM ET and be suitable for most of Europe.

 

Obviously, field width would be a major problem for Ohio Stadium. I'd love for it to be a site, tho.

I like the suggestion to keep group games in one region. Unfortunately, outside of the northeast there are few sites you can easily take a train between, however. Flying is pretty much a necessity for visiting fans, unless they've got good contacts for arranging charter buses.

 

A 5pm start time is not going to be ok or suitable for most of Europe. More like none of Europe.

 

right, it ain't boxing krypto!

 

I imagine starting times would be around noon for the first matches. Noon would make it an 8pm start for Russia, 6:00pm start in Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and France, and a 5:00pm start for UK and Portugal.

 

It would be f'in sweet if we got a game here.

Columbus is well equipped to deal with the hordes too, with a ton of hotel space and the annual dress rehearsals that are OSU home games.

 

Ohio Stadium would be phenomenal venue. Yes, it has Canadian grass, but a lot can change in 9 years. I could see Gene Smith paying for grass for a game or two. I mean, they could use it as an excuse to put new Emerald City Turf which has a finite lifetime anyway.

Once you get a wide grass field put in, there really are only positives. There's no reason why you shouldnt give as many people as possible the opportunity to see the game live. And theyve got all those luxury boxes so all of BA's FIFA friends can host their parties and what not.

 

Exactly, nice and big with good infrastructure. And BA can wine and dine his FIFA buddies on a big old sweet junket.

 

Never gonna happen. Since they put AA deck in, the field is far too narrow to host a WC match.

 

I say we build an elaborate deck over all of AA in order to...

aw F*@K it, we're never gonna get a game here...

 

Which is what I thought all along...which begs the question - why are they still on the list?

 

At this preliminary stage, I'm sure that the USSF hasn't looked at all the details yet. Neyland Stadium is still in the running and I'm almost positive that it isn't any wider than Ohio Stadium.

I think the closest we'll get to Columbus is Indianapolis. Lucas Oil Stadium is absolutely amazing from the outside and I'm sure was built with hosting a WC game in mind.

 

Another thing about Ohio Stadium is "B Deck" which has partially-blocked views from many angles. In fact, there's even additional scoreboards and TVs for times when you can't see the action.

I wonder what FIFA would think about that.

 

Unless you happen to be in the first row. You get a bleacher with a back AND a wall in front of you to put things like drinks and/or feet.

Another crappy place in Ohio Stadium is the southern parts of C Deck. Up there, you can't see the video board. The only scoreboard you have up there is the one in the north (closed) end.

I've never sat in the lower parts of the southern parts of C Deck (right in front of the towers), so I don't know the view from there.

I'd imagine the views from the "outer parts" of the South Stands might be less than desirable. (By "outer parts", I mean the sections basically above the locker rooms, on either side of the scoreboard.)

The majority of seats in Ohio Stadium are fairly decent, though.

 

I was for a Spring Game. I was up in the closed end, on the west side. If you're familiar where the band used to sit prior to the renovations in the late 90's, it was around there.

There's actually a few other bleachers with backs around the stadium. I'm not sure where they are, but I think they're around the entrances to the sections. I saw some such bleachers during graduation ceremonies.

While it is very possible to use the tops of the "section entrances" as cup holders, but there's at least one usher that doesn't like this... (It actually makes sense...don't want anything dropping down on people below.)

 

The cement wall with those cubbie holes?