Here is the list of cities that are still in contention to be part of the bid that is due to FIFA in May 2010: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York City, Oakland, Orlando, Philadelphia, Glendale-Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.
http://www.gousabid.com/blog/entry/...t-of-27-cities-still-in-contention-for-inclu/ Link to a bit of the announcement
Actually Detroit was one of the venues most complained about. The Silverdome didn't have air conditioning. During the USA vs Switzerland match it was so hot in there I bought a second shirt because I was completely soaked in sweat before kickoff. However, they did prove you can pull off games in a dome without a retractable roof and I'm sure MSUs turfgrass school would love to do the grass again. Edit: Ford Field DOES have AC though.
Having recently been to Detroit, I'd be embarrassed if games were held there, regardless of the stadium/field issues. Urban blight is in no way attractive.
bah. Downtown Detroit is perfectly fine. The Ford Field area would be a great venue for World Cup Soccer. And Michigan Stadium is in Ann Arbor and is the largest venue on the list of possible venues. Besides, look at Detroit during the super bowl for a representation of how things would be if a World Cup match came to Downtown Detroit. The city can clean itself up for a weekend no problem. haha Metro Detroit FTW. I am now taking reservations for my floor and couch.
The big house is one of the worst places to see a live sport, IMO. Sure it can seat 110k+, but it accommodations are a travesty. Miserable ingress/egress.
The one game I attended @ Michigan, we parked in the middle of a golf course (which seemed to be a good spot), and got inside a good 2 hours early, just to see the place. My buddy and I quickly realized we were sitting next to some rather large folks, so our 10 inches of seat quickly turned into about 8. I got up to go to the bathroom at 2:30 (3:30 kickoff), and was able to get back to my seat @ approximately the 6 minute mark of the 1st quarter, because there would seem to be about 3 ways into and out of the stadium to the 'concourse'. It's a cool old college football stadium...which is what it should be used for exclusively.
Four or five years ago. I know they've done a lot, but those seats didn't get any bigger, and there aren't any more entrances than before. The problem/issue is that it's a single bowl, and each section has one way in and out. That said, it was a fun place to watch a game. The wave between the third and fourth quarter (iirc) is something to see.
USSF loves that shithole. Same question applies to Oakland - a stadium the A's and Raiders have wanted to leave for years. By my count, there are 27 stadiums, but only 22 cities left. Cleveland with a 50/50 shot? (I'd guess only one from Cleveland/Indy/Detroit/Chicago, and I don't like Cleveland's chances)
This list is just ridiculous. I cant believe they gave seatle two venues one better get cut. Just because they sell out a season doesnt mean its some wonderful place for the world cup. I also dont know why boston is on here they have horrible attendance and they had the worst attendace in the world fooball challenge i thiought that would have knocked them out but i guess kraft had something to do with it. The problem with this is probably money and dey just choosing based on money which is bad. I been to baltimore nice stadium, beautiful harbour the rest of the city is a shithole run downfactory after run downfactory.
Attendence will not and will never be an issue with the World Cup, so I dont think thats really relevant. I mean, they could host it in a poverty stricken, disease infested, crime ridden desert with crappy tourist infrastructures and people will probably show up. Oh, wait...
The bold part is pretty much the same thing at Ohio Stadium. After the renovations there, they took out the way to go from A deck to the B deck concourse. IIRC, if you're at the top of A deck, you have to go all the way down to the bottom of the section.
Baltimore stands a much better chance. After all, isn't there a reason why the summer exhibition matches are played there and not RFK?
Right, but there are 3 decks at Ohio Stadium. Take an OSU game, add slightly more people, and have them all trying to get to/get from their seats with 1/3 the number of gates.