As FIFA prepares to announce the 2026 World Cup sites on Thursday 바카라 and make high-profile cuts 바카라 Alan Rothenberg thought back to when stadiums were picked for the 1994 tournament he headed in the United States.(More Football News)
17 stadiums in 16 areas remained in contention to be among 10-12 selected from the U.S. for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which will be co-hosted with Mexico and Canada.
As FIFA prepares to announce the 2026 World Cup sites on Thursday 바카라 and make high-profile cuts 바카라 Alan Rothenberg thought back to when stadiums were picked for the 1994 tournament he headed in the United States.(More Football News)
바카라They gave the rights to the host country, and the host country basically ran the whole thing,바카라 he said. 바카라Here, everything is done in-house by FIFA. So it바카라s been a really long and arduous process. The terms have been incredibly difficult for cities to cope with.바카라
Seventeen stadiums in 16 areas remained in contention to be among 10-12 selected from the U.S. for the tournament, which will be co-hosted with Mexico and Canada. The U.S. will host 60 of the 80 games under FIFA바카라s plan, including all from the quarterfinals on, and there was little doubt over the venues for 10 games each in the other nations.
Last time, the nine U.S. stadiums were announced during a Waldorf-Astoria news conference 816 days before the opener. This time, the decisions will be revealed by FIFA in a Fox television studio 1,456 days before the likely start.
바카라Locks: AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, along with SoFi Stadium in Inglewood or the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
바카라In the hunt: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore; Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts; NRG Stadium in Houston; Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri; Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida; Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee; Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; Levi바카라s Stadium in Santa Clara, California; and Lumen Field in Seattle.
바카라Least likely: Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati; Empower Field at Mile High in Denver; and Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
바카라In the other countries: Mexico City바카라s Estadio Azteca, which hosted the 1970 and 바카라86 finals and will become the first stadium in three World Cups; Guadalajara바카라s Estadio Akron; Monterrey바카라s Estadio BBVA; Toronto바카라s BMO Field and Vancouver, British Columbia바카라s B.C. Place. Edmonton, Alberta바카라s Commonwealth Stadium was likely to be dropped.
바카라This country has even more than 17 cities capable of hosting the World Cup, and it will be a pity for those that miss out,바카라 said Telemundo바카라s Andrés Cantor, who has broadcast the tournament since 1990 and will co-host the announcement. 바카라But I don바카라t think it바카라s going to take away from the desire of the soccer fan to attend the game, wherever their country lands in 2026.바카라
Rothenberg said the decision remained uncertain in the final week between SoFi, which may need pricey renovations to create a wider field, and the Rose Bowl.
바카라Even to this moment, there바카라s calls going on all day long trying to sort it out,바카라 he said Tuesday. 바카라There will be discussions between the LA host committee and FIFA right up almost to the moment of the announcement. The costs of LA are a huge part of the difficulty.바카라
Just two of the contending stadiums hosted games in 1994, the Rose Bowl joined by Orlando. Dozens of training complexes have been built for MLS teams, creating a far better infrastructure than at the first World Cup in the U.S., when Italy worked out at The Pingry School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and the U.S. practiced ahead of its opener on a wind-swept field at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.
바카라It바카라s completely different from the standpoint that in a lot of these cities there바카라s a base of fans that have been sort of built up because of MLS,바카라 said Tony Meola, the U.S. starting goalkeeper at that 바카라94 Cup. 바카라We know Los Angeles and New York and Miami always had soccer fans, and they weren바카라t necessarily American soccer fans, but they were fans of some teams around the world. I think we바카라ve got just a little bit more of a fever for the game. From a fan바카라s perspective, the infrastructure in the cities are so much more developed. And tickets will never be a problem in our country if we host the World Cup every four years.바카라
All U.S. stadiums forecast capacities of 60,000 or larger. Three have retractable roofs and one a fixed roof. Ten have artificial turf but would switch to temporary grass.
This will be the first 48-nation World Cup, up from the 32-team format used since 1998. In a tournament likely to run from June 11 to July 12, but possibly start and end a week later, there will be 16 groups of three nations. Each team will play two first-round games instead of three as part of an awkward arrangement in which one nation in each group opens against an opponent who will have already played. The top two in each group advance to a 32-nation knockout bracket.
Revenue has skyrocketed: The 1994 Cup drew a record 3.59 million fans and grossed $580 million, which produced a profit of $133.25 million for FIFA and $50 million for the U.S. organizing committee. FIFA said the 2018 World Cup in Russia produced $5.357 billion in revenue over the four-year cycle and a $3.533 billion surplus.
FIFA requires bidders to obtain 바카라a limited tax exemption바카라 for FIFA, teams and other entities involved, and the Missouri Legislature last month approved a sales tax exemption for June and July 2026. Chicago dropped out in 2018 over FIFA바카라s demands.
Rothenberg anticipates many of U.S. states and cities will refuse to comply.
바카라I think that바카라s a fair assumption in most of the jurisdictions. Some of them, they may just build it into the stadium price and other things, but getting an actual waiver may be difficult,바카라 he said. 바카라Ultimately, it just means another cost that the host committee, host city, is going to be responsible for.'