I would favor playing pre-WC friendlies in states that have never hosted the USMNT. The large stadium in Omaha, NE which is currently hosting the MCWS is a possibility. Y'all are welcome to post others.
Friendlies? I'm still holding out for a WCQ against Jamaica at a certain venue... ...War Memorial Stadium, Laramie, Wyoming. Welcome to 7300 Feet, Reggae Boyz...
Yes, I'm a big proponent of this. Apologists will look for excuses, but when USS are motivated to find a way, they typically do. It's been leaked one of the reasons they keep holding games in MLS cities are they can make more $ from much higher ticket prices that way in the short-term. But in the big picture it's a poor strategy for growing the game Stateside. I'm in Wisconsin, and they haven't held a game here in over 30 years. But there have been other major soccer events. By population, it's a top half state, so it's a pretty big area to neglect. Lately there hasn't even been much held in Chicago. The one time they went to Minneapolis it was arctic temperatures. So there's not been a lot of options in this area where there's been reasonable driving distances, regardless of the hullabaloo of over-serving the norther midwest. That was really the northern mideast/Ohio. Ideally, USS would go to every state in the continental US that's not desolate or tiny (like Montana or Delaware), to spark passion, and make everyone feel included in the project. I'd like to see them go to Omaha, or Boise, or Albuquerque, or Louisville, or New Orleans, or Des Moines. We have the facilities. All that matters is the will, regardless what anyone claims.
FWIW, we have played three friendlies in Albuquerque before. Most recently in 2005. Though Boise would be interesting. Hope they get used to the blue turf
I think this is a marvelous idea, but I can see USSF being locked in to the guaranteed minimum crowds and higher ticket prices they can charge in MLS cities. Regional advertising would be required for these friendlies, something USSF doesn't do a lot of.
Why on earth are these guys not playing in Hawaii? It should be a yearly recruiting pilgrimage for dual nat recruiting and a tradition to play Australia, New Zealand, Japan, or South Korea. Heck, take camp cupcake to Maui.
In what stadium? Aloha Stadium was condemned for safety reasons. UH football currently plays at its 9,000 capacity women's soccer/track stadium.
As part of the CBA they basically can only play on grass fields. They have in the past laid down temporary grass, but afterwords they weren't happy with the quality of the field and said they wouldn't do it again. Now maybe they care less about temporary grass for a friendly. The other thing is that the fields have to be wide enough. Alot of college football stadiums and even some NFL stadiums aren't wide enough. Now of course for a friendly you could make an exception there. That's how they've ended up playing friendlies at Michigan Stadium for instance, which is too narrow otherwise. You'd also have to be able to convince bigger non-CONCACAF teams to agree to play games in different cities you don't normally play in. Bigger teams also command bigger fees for friendlies, hence the need for more revenue.
It's not super far away from places that do get games regularly like Philly, Columbus, and I guess Cinci now, but I'd plug Pittsburgh for games. I watched a USWNT friendly at Heinz Field as well as one of the ICC Euro club "tournament" games, and it's really a pretty good venue for it in the spring/summer before the American football teams start tearing up the grass. I don't think they could get sell-outs here, but they might be able to fill the lower bowl, which is maybe 30k. And there aren't huge immigrant populations here, if that is a worry.
As a Pittsburgh native, I would love nothing more than see the USMNT come here. I really hope I get to see it one day.
It does matter. Holding a camp in Hawaii would be VERY expensive. The Fed has to pay for it somehow. Not to mention, how many clubs are going to release players for this camp? What club is going to want to send their player to the other side of the world and back? Also, the USSF has to find opponents willing to travel to hawaii or any other "remote" city in the US to play. Oh and they have to pay them too. Fact is that holding friendlies in the same cities is out of convenience. Travel to and from is easier. The training facilities are known, and excellent. The stadiums are known and have excellent fields to play on. Opponents aren't going to want to travel to smaller cities/regions of the US and play in less than desirable stadiums. I completely understand wanting to grow the game. The goal of friendlies is not to grow the game, it's to make the National team better. Does anyone think that Brazil will want to play a friendly against the US in Albuquerque? These FIFA windows are what 10 days? That's 10 days to squeeze 2 friendlies and multiple training sessions in. Holding these camps and friendlies in non "major" US cities is going to increase the travel time of players, and decrease their training time. The sentiment and intent of playing friendlies in other parts of the country is good. The real world business side of the equation doesn't support it though. The playing side doesn't either.
Anywhere we have a D1 college we have decent facilities and administrators willing to bend over backward to be the site of the US National Team. There are also existing travel standards and practices in place. The NFL plays the Pro Bowl in Hawaii to reward its top players. Camp Cupcake and other MLS-based camps could do the same. Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, and South Korea are all closer to Hawaii then they are to LA or NY and they all have regular flights there.
Why would a Division 1 school Administrator want to bend over backwards for soccer? Actually.....Pro Bowl hasn't been played in Hawaii since 2016. Asian Nation's League means there are far fewer open dates for friendlies for those countries. Also....US players traveling to Hawaii....yeah...that's a couple days worth a travel. Which leads to less days they are able to train.
As for higher ed administrators…having international soccer facilitated on your watch is absolutely a nice feather in the cap that goes in the CV. You have a personal vendetta against vacation soccer. I doubt that any of the players or coaches have your hang ups. . Camp cupcake is already vacation soccer, but my idea is BETTER vacation soccer. Its a very serious idea that must be vigorously debated in this forum.