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There is some real drama about which European country will host the next World Cup.&nbsp; Both England and Russia have submitted solid bids, and FIFA is going to have to think very deeply about which country will get to host this prestigious event.&nbsp; However, FIFA is awarding both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups this December, and although several countries, including South Korea, Australia and Qatar are bidding for the other slot, the US is almost a guaranteed winner.&nbsp;
There are several factors in the US’s favor, but as with most things about FIFA, they come down to money.
Nobody on Earth has the ability to host more visitors or sell more tickets than the US
In 1994, the US hosted the World Cup tournament and sold a record 3.6 million tickets in a country that, for many, barely registered that the event was actually going on.&nbsp; Despite the fact that four World Cups have occurred since 1994, and that the tournament expanded from 24 countries to 32 (and from 52 to 64 matches) in 1998, that record still stands.&nbsp; An average of 69,000 people attended each game, and some of the venues for those games were second tier facilities like Stanford Stadium and the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.&nbsp; For a future World Cup, the US can place the games in a dozen different stadia that have all been built or upgraded within the decade and all seat more than 70,000 spectators.&nbsp; For a World Cup tournament, there is little doubt that the US could sell between 4.5 and 5 million tickets, a record that will probably never be broken.
When the FIFA inspection committee comes to the US next month, they will make stops at the new Meadowlands stadium in New Jersey, FedEx Field outside of Washington DC., Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex., and Reliant Stadium in Houston.&nbsp; In addition to the huge seating capacity, all of these new, modern stadia will have the luxury boxes and facilities FIFA needs to entertain all the big wigs and corporate sponsors associated with the greatest sporting event on earth.&nbsp;
Just about all the stadia that would host a World Cup game in the USA are built for the NFL, and the NFL is world’s greatest organization for buttering up its cooperate sponsors.&nbsp; The two versions of football share the same attitude about how best to generate gameday money – sell tickets to the small guys and rape the rich guys for every penny they are willing to toss away in order to be associated with sports.&nbsp; The NFL stadia are like a FIFA dream come true.
The US has the infrastructure to host the tournament next month, let alone in 2022
All of the <a href="http:\/\/www.gousabid.com/city/">18 cities</a> in the US bid package have the airports, transportation facilities and hotel space already built and ready.&nbsp; In fact, for many of the cities, having 100,000 visitors show up and check into hotels will barely register in the day-to-day life of the city.&nbsp; With 1.5 million people going in and out of American airports every day, if 750,000 visitors come to the US for the World Cup, the logistical headaches will be more along the lines of a busy Thanksgiving travel season.
Despite all of its advantages, the US Bid Committee has unrolled a charm offensive
Did you notice who was sitting next to FIFA head Sepp Bladder at two of the US’s games in South Africa this summer?&nbsp; That was President Bill Clinton.&nbsp; Whatever your politics, the fact is that Clinton is one of the most popular Americans in the rest of the world, and nobody would dispute his ability to charm a snake out of its skin.&nbsp; With Clinton now as acting as honorary chairman of the bid committee, the entire effort has had its star wattage kicked up more than a notch.&nbsp;
That star power will be on display next month when the inspection committee comes to the US, is escorted by President Clinton, entertained by soccer fans like John Legend, Kobe Bryant and Brad Pitt, and sits down to lunch with President Obama during their time in Washington.&nbsp; With all due respect to Qatar, that will be tough to beat.
More importantly, America is a growing soccer power in the FIFA universe
Do you know which country has more U-14, U-12, U-10, U-8 and U-6 registered soccer players than England, Italy, Germany or France?&nbsp; The USA.&nbsp; Do you know which country bought more tickets to the most recent World Cup than any other outside of the hosts?&nbsp; The USA.&nbsp; Do you know which country bought more soccer equipment than any on earth last year?&nbsp; The USA.
Soccer may not yet be more popular as a spectator sport than baseball, football or basketball, but it is the most played sport among youth in America, and now represents a gigantic revenue source for FIFA.&nbsp; If soccer ever generated half the passion in the US than it does in the major European powers, it would generate far more revenue than any other nation on earth.&nbsp; The 1994 World Cup introduced soccer as a viewing activity to America, and a 2022 World Cup hosted in the US has the potential to make that interest explode.
China’s interest in hosting in the future ices it for the USA
For FIFA, China is virgin territory.&nbsp; With 1.2 billion people, the world’s second largest GNP, and almost no soccer culture to speak of, FIFA is desperate to get China into the world soccer scene.&nbsp; If China expresses even the slightest interest in hosting the 2026 or 2030 World Cup, the US bid is a lock.
Why?&nbsp; Because all of the US’s competition (Qatar, Korea and Australia), are located in the Asian Football Confederation.&nbsp; If any of those teams are awarded the World Cup, China will be shut out until the 2040s.&nbsp; FIFA cannot allow that to happen.&nbsp; They need the cult of football to spread to China, and after the last Olympics, they know China could be a wonderful host.&nbsp; China has not submitted a bid for 2018 or 2022, so FIFA may feel the need to hold a slot open for them in the next round.&nbsp; In the meantime, they cannot give that Asian slot to someone else.
Can the USA win the 2018 hosting job?
Perhaps.&nbsp; The USA has repeatedly expressed to FIFA that they are willing to limit their bid to 2022 if that is what FIFA wants, and FIFA has encouraged the USA to stay open to the possibility of hosting the games four years sooner.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; If Russia were to be awarded the games, they would need to build a lot of stadia, and if England were to be awarded the games, they would need to upgrade many of theirs.
FIFA may want to give either Russia or England another four years to improve their facilities.&nbsp; If so, we may be just eight years away from welcoming the rest of the world to the World Cup.
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Why the US is a Lock to Host the 2022 World Cup (or Maybe 2018) - World Soccer Talk

Why the US is a Lock to Host the 2022 World Cup (or Maybe 2018)

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This week The FIFA inspection committee responsible for producing the report on all the possible host countries for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups visits England.&nbsp; The committee will be touring London, Manchester, Sunderland and Newcastle, inspecting stadia, looking at infrastructure, and getting charmed by David Beckham, Fabio Capello and Bobby Charlton.
Many English fans consider themselves a lock for hosting 2018 World Cup.&nbsp; In their view, there is no European nation that can match their stadia, infrastructure, or passion for the game.&nbsp; England is the birth place for soccer, and has not hosted its greatest tournament, since 1966.&nbsp; For English fans, it is time for the cup to return home.
However, all history and nostalgia aside, there are some very practical forces that are endangering England’s bid.&nbsp; England’s main competition for 2018 hosting responsibilities is Russia, and there are several critical reasons for FIFA to find a Russian World Cup more attractive.
England has stadia, but they are old and small
England brags that it already has all the infrastructure it needs and would not have to build a single new stadium for World Cup 2018.&nbsp; However, what England sees as an asset, FIFA may look at as a detriment.&nbsp; England does have plenty of venues for the World Cup, but only three of them, Wembley, Old Trafford and Emirates, seat more than 60,000.&nbsp; In fact, for the top 10 stadia in England, six of them seat fewer than 50,000.&nbsp; For the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the host country used 10 stadia that had a total seating capacity of 548,000.&nbsp; The top 10 stadia in England would have a capacity of 25,000 fewer seats.
Apart from the seating capacity, almost as critical to FIFA is the nature of those stadia.&nbsp; Included in that list are some grand dames like Anfield, Goodison Park, Villa Park and Stamford Bridge.&nbsp; While these structures may overflow with memories and lore, what they are not packed with is luxury boxes, corporate entertainment facilities and the amenities that FIFA needs to wine and dine their critical commercial sponsors.&nbsp; FIFA has three sources of income during a World Cup – ticket sales, corporate sponsorship, and licensing fees (both for merchandise and broadcast rights).&nbsp; The facilities in England will limit their potential ticket sales and make the care and feeding of their sponsors (who have, after all, forked over billions of dollars for the privilege) far more challenging.&nbsp;
Russia, on the other hand, would have to build most of its stadia from scratch.&nbsp; While this may look like a detriment to some, to FIFA that is actually a positive.&nbsp; Having just come from South Africa, where the majority of its venues were newly constructed and built with all the modern sporting amenities in place, the entire situation was close to ideal.&nbsp; If lowly South Africa can pull off that trick, there is little doubt that Russia can too.&nbsp; In the last decade, Russia has been on an airport and hotel building spree, and if there is any skill the Russians have, it is in the building of large (and occasionally ponderous) urban infrastructure.&nbsp; If Russia can convince FIFA that they have the commitment to build the venues necessary for World Cup 2018, England’s existing stadia could actually hinder their bid.
FIFA prioritizes emerging soccer markets over existing ones
England will undoubtedly tout its unreserved fanaticism for the game while Russia is still a country that cares more about hockey and gymnastics.&nbsp; However, like the stadia issue, this may be a positive for FIFA.&nbsp; FIFA has an evangelical streak about them, and likes to proselytize about the beautiful game to the uninitiated.&nbsp; They like to use every other World Cup to break into new markets, expand the passion for game, and convert more followers into the church of football.&nbsp; USA 1994, Korea/Japan 2002, and South Africa 2010 represent their latest efforts in this crusade.&nbsp; With the 2014 Cup being held in Brazil, FIFA may look at 2018 as another missionary opportunity.
And Russia is a real growth opportunity.&nbsp; This emerging market with millions of potential soccer aficionados is exactly the kind of growth opportunity that makes FIFA salivate.&nbsp; Russia has money and population, and FIFA feels like they are not getting their fair share of either.&nbsp; Putting a World Cup in Russia may be exactly battering ram that breaks down the door for a significant new revenue stream for FIFA.
Conversely, from a business perspective, FIFA may look at England as a saturated market place with little opportunity for growth.&nbsp; For the green eye-shades at FIFA, bringing the World Cup to Newcastle would be like bringing coal to, well, Newcastle.
Those passionate English fans are a tad bit scary
During the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the security precautions put into place to control the English fans were extraordinary.&nbsp; Many English fans have a very unsavory reputation, and long list were drawn up of supporters who were prohibited from travelling to Germany for the games.&nbsp; &nbsp;For the first time (at least since 1945 or so), English security forces were allowed into Germany to help maintain order.&nbsp; And yet, <a href="http:\/\/epltalk.com/hooligans-untold-story-bbc-panorama-documentary-video/23373">there were plenty of incidents and acts of violence </a>as a few bad apples reflected poorly on a nation of civil football supporters.
For a World Cup stationed in England, no bad apples will be prohibited or controlled.&nbsp; You cannot keep an Englishman , no matter his reputation, from getting on train to an English stadium or from approaching a pub where a French or Italian or German fans have gathered or from doing anything violent until they have actually done it and broken the law.&nbsp; While England thug culture has certainly dissipated from its Thatcherite heyday, nobody would argue that it has gone away.&nbsp; If the authorities had such a difficult time controlling the English fans in Berlin, how are they going to control them in London, Manchester or Liverpool?&nbsp; This is an issue that weighs heavily on FIFA’s mind.
Comparatively, for better or worse, Russia does have some history and some skill in the arts of maintaining civil order.&nbsp;
How all of these issues resonate with FIFA will not be known until December 2, when FIFA announces who will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.&nbsp; However, shorting England’s overinflated odds of being declared a host might be a good bet.&nbsp;

Why Russia Could Beat England to Host 2018 World Cup - World Soccer Talk

Why Russia Could Beat England to Host 2018 World Cup

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