I dont know if the thread belongs here but I tried finding one and could not. At 3:30ET the final cities will be names for the 2018/2022 WC USA bid. The 27 that will be cut to 18: Washington, Tampa Bay, Seattle, St. Louis, San Francisco, Phoenix, San Diego, Philadelphia, Oakland, New York, Orlando, Nashville, Miami, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Houston, Detroit, Dallas, Denver, Cleveland, Chicago, Charlotte, Boston, Atlanta, Baltimore http://www.ussoccer.com/About/USA-Bid.aspx http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2010/01/us-bid-to-trim-list-of-cities-to-18.html
I would be surprised if any of the Bay Area cities make it. Candlestick or whatever they call it is/ will be obsolete by then with no assurance sof a replacement. And the Oakland Coliseum (which is actually quite good for all forms of football in the football configuration) might still have a baseball team in it, though unlikely. Too much risk. So I predict the west coast sites will be Seattle and one of either SD or LA (LA is getting a big stadium, albeit it one of the crappiest, smogiest locations in the greater LA basin)
My Predictions: Atlanta Boston Chicago Cleveland Dallas Detroit Houston Indianapolis Los Angeles New York Philadelphia Phoenix San Diego San Francisco Seattle Washington I'm basing my selections under the premise that the stadia selected will be bunched together somewhat geographically for the ease of travel in first round matchups. I'm also guessing that weather/altitude concerns will factor in, thus eliminating places such as South Florida and Denver, whereas places such as Phoenix have a retractable roof. Let's see how I do!
Gotta think Stanford Stadium is in play, though. West Coast contingent could be SD (Qualcomm), Stanford, LA Colluseum, Qwest and UofPhoenix...
If the premise that there will be geographic groupings then I suppose SD and Phoenix could be selected. Nothing wrong with either. Stanford is out because it is too narrow. The idiots who built it were told that international soccer/ FIFA grade was an option but they chose to make it gridiron only. You can play freindlies there but that's it.
No Chicago Off the top of my head: Atlanta San Diego Phoenix Nashville Seattle LA NY Boston Washington Baltimore Tampa Miami Philly Denver Dallas Kansas City Houston and I'm missing one... Indy was the 18th
From today's announcement..... IN: Atlanta, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, Seattle, Denver, Tampa, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Nashville, Kansas City, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Washington, Boston, New York/New Jersey. OUT: Chicago, Charlotte, Detroit, San Francisco, Oakland, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Orlando, St. Louis. "I think there is a little Olympic fatigue" and FIFA requirements might have been difficult to meet, USSF President Sunil Gulati said of the stunning omission of Chicago's Soldier Field, which is about a mile from USSF headquarters. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/
What are the capacity for the stadia in question for each venue and for LA, are we talking about the Rose Bowl?
Chicago and the Bay Area pop up as major omissions. Did Kasey Keller's mom move to Nashville or something? When did it become a major soccer hub? Olympic Qualifying, a WCQ, a World Cup finalist, other friendlies, IIRC? Is an MLS team far behind?
Some of the "ins" are kind of surprising: Atlanta, two Florida locations, Indianapolis. Some of the "outs" are kind of surprising: Chicago, Charlotte, SF. Curious interest in domes -- Indy, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta. I wonder if there was a criteria that the stadium owners must be willing to increase field size, or else places like KC and Washington DC seem like stupid picks, as I think everyone knows the field is too damn small for FIFA requirements.
Miami made it!!! And what was that warm weather question? Miami isn't that hot compared to other cities in June. Almost every city in the South is hotter than Miami in June. And people want warm weather and beaches anyways.
indi, yes. nashville is more south. kc? maybe. pfffth. at least i have friends family in just about all of the cities....