Digby 6,111 Posted August 18, 2017 On 8/17/2017 at 9:36 AM, AstroBull21 said: So if a minimum of 12 sites are to be selected (I'm sticking with US locations for now),we all can likely agree on the locks: Metlife Stadium - NYNJ ATT Stadium - Dallas Rams/Chargers Stadium or Rose Bowl or BOTH - Los Angeles Soldier Field - Chicago After that if I had to pick 8 more I'd go with: Seattle San Francisco (Santa Clara) Miami Philadelphia Washington Phoenix (Glendale) Nashville or Atlanta Kansas City I would slide Boston into the locks list, if only because Bob Kraft is the "honorary chair" and [six different conspiracy theories redacted]. Probably in place of Kansas City. Otherwise this reads as the most likely list to me, though also I wonder what new projects could spin up in the next few years to make a run at things. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Magic Dynasty 2,374 Posted August 20, 2017 I made this map on Google Docs to showcase my predictions. The homer in me wanted to choose Orlando over Cincinnati, but I needed a Central city and figured that Cincinnati would draw better from more places than Nashville would, despite Nissan being (from all that I've heard) a better soccer venue in general. Also, I know that the USA will only get 12 and Canada only get 3, but I wanted all 4 Canadian cities in and that required an extra American city to round things out. EDIT: In case you don't want to click a link, the cities are: Canada: Edmonton Vancouver Toronto (Rogers Centre) Montreal (Stade Olympique) Mexico: Mexico City Guadalajara Monterrey USA: Los Angeles (Hollywood Park) Denver Dallas (AT&T) New York/New Jersey Washington DC Atlanta Kansas City Chicago Seattle Miami Philadelphia Minneapolis Boston/Foxborough San Francisco Bay Area Cincinnati The final two spots were really hard - New Orleans, Nashville, Detroit, Phoenix, Indianapolis, Orlando, and Jacksonville were also considered. However, I tried to take location into mind (which is why I did a map) - Utah, western Kansas and Nebraska, and Wyoming will all be drawn to Denver. Minneapolis will get all of the northern prairie states, northern Wisconsin, and possibly southern Manitoba and southwestern Ontario. Dallas will draw Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana (and would be my pick for final, along with Kansas City). It goes on and on and on. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
officeglenn 2,370 Posted September 7, 2017 The 2026 World Cup bid committee received responses from 41 of the 44 cities they had earlier identified as potential hosts. The three cities that did not respond are: Calgary, Alta.; Green Bay, Wisc.; and San Diego, Calif. Also, Rogers Centre in Toronto and Stade Saputo in Montreal were removed from the list of stadiums under consideration. However, BMO Field and Stade Olympique remain as possibilities in those cities. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the admiral 28,232 Posted September 7, 2017 On 8/17/2017 at 8:40 AM, crashcarson15 said: I wouldn't call Soldier Field anything near a lock -- it was not part of the failed 2022 bid, passed over in favor of Indianapolis. I know Soldier Field is ugly, undersized, habitually waterlogged, and a driving/parking ordeal, but I would think twice about passing over a major world city with a large Mexican/Polish immigrant population in favor of Indianoplace. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bosrs1 1,288 Posted September 7, 2017 3 hours ago, officeglenn said: The 2026 World Cup bid committee received responses from 41 of the 44 cities they had earlier identified as potential hosts. The three cities that did not respond are: Calgary, Alta.; Green Bay, Wisc.; and San Diego, Calif. Also, Rogers Centre in Toronto and Stade Saputo in Montreal were removed from the list of stadiums under consideration. However, BMO Field and Stade Olympique remain as possibilities in those cities. Not surprising. Calgary, Green Bay and San Diego don't have stadiums really inclined toward soccer (and San Diego won't have a stadium at all by 2026) 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crashcarson15 2,466 Posted September 8, 2017 15 hours ago, the admiral said: I know Soldier Field is ugly, undersized, habitually waterlogged, and a driving/parking ordeal, but I would think twice about passing over a major world city with a large Mexican/Polish immigrant population in favor of Indianoplace. I mean, I wholeheartedly agree, especially given I think only cities with competent public transportation should be selected (and as someone else pointed out, there were other factors at play with the 2022 bid that kept Chicago off), but it is true that they were left off the bid for 2022. TBH, if Soldier Field wasn't so damn small (how the hell did that happen, anyway?), I'd back it to host either the opening match or the final. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dfwabel 4,155 Posted September 9, 2017 14 hours ago, crashcarson15 said: I mean, I wholeheartedly agree, especially given I think only cities with competent public transportation should be selected (and as someone else pointed out, there were other factors at play with the 2022 bid that kept Chicago off), but it is true that they were left off the bid for 2022. TBH, if Soldier Field wasn't so damn small (how the hell did that happen, anyway?), I'd back it to host either the opening match or the final. Read this from 2014, as the architect who was in charge of the master plan spoke openly. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-03-09/news/ct-met-kamin-soldierfield-20140309_1_new-seating-bowl-soldier-field-chicago-bears Part of it is that the renovation has seats 2 inches wider than before, but also that there were options for more end zone seating, but those seats would likely not have sold in the architect's opinion. There's only one group of folks who willingly buy end zone suites, club/loge seats and overly steep end zone seats...SEC/ACC football fans! End zone expansion projects really don't entice the north and the west unless you like the Packers or the two main Iowa schools. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
officeglenn 2,370 Posted October 5, 2017 The field of potential host cities has been reduced from 41 to 32. Quote Representatives from the 32 potential host cities will travel to Houston, TX during the week of November 13th for a working session with the United Bid Committee team. Canada Edmonton Montreal Toronto Vancouver Mexico Guadalajara Mexico City Monterrey United States Atlanta Baltimore Boston Charlotte Cincinnati Chicago Dallas Denver Detroit Houston Kansas City Las Vegas Los Angeles Miami Minneapolis Nashville New York/New Jersey Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Salt Lake City San Francisco Bay Area Seattle Tampa Washington, D.C. Eliminated from Contention Birmingham, Ala. Cleveland Indianapolis Jacksonville New Orleans Ottawa Pittsburgh Regina, Sask. San Antonio 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joob 74 Posted October 5, 2017 I really wish it was more evenly spread out amongst the 3 countries but can't really complain. Huge step for soccer in North America, particularly Canada and USA. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Magic Dynasty 2,374 Posted October 5, 2017 Surprised SLC is still in and Cleveland isn't. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DG_ThenNowForever 15,374 Posted October 5, 2017 Lego Stadium should have been cut too. That place is the worst. Though, actually, nothing gets more the worst than this: 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dfwabel 4,155 Posted October 5, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, Magic Dynasty said: Surprised SLC is still in and Cleveland isn't. This isn't a fantasy stadium list. The bid process even in North America is full of graft. Cleveland either didn't play ball or didn't to the degree desired. The city giving $$$ away for sport has been under scrutiny over the last year as the public successfully able to force a referendum on $140M in funds for The Q after the city council approved it months earlier. Dan Gilbert later canceled the project. The bid committee knows they can get money out of the state of Utah and SLC as host or camp city. Every time the committee uses "bid vision" or "hosting concept", they mean free money from state/municipal government and tax breaks. Edited October 5, 2017 by dfwabel 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TBGKon 2,594 Posted October 5, 2017 2 hours ago, Magic Dynasty said: Surprised SLC is still in and Cleveland isn't. 42 minutes ago, dfwabel said: This isn't a fantasy stadium list. The bid process even in North America is full of graft. Cleveland either didn't play ball or didn't to the degree desired. The city giving $$$ away for sport has been under scrutiny over the last year as the public successfully able to force a referendum on $140M in funds for The Q after the city council approved it months earlier. Dan Gilbert later canceled the project. The bid committee knows they can get money out of the state of Utah and SLC as host or camp city. Every time the committee uses "bid vision" or "hosting concept", they mean free money from state/municipal government and tax breaks. Cleveland also has a ton of regional competition in the Midwest with Detroit, Cincinnati, Chicago, and to an extent KC and Nashville. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alexandre 59 Posted October 5, 2017 I don't really want to spend the money on this (and I'm a hardcore soccer fan), but I know Coderre would happily play ball with FIFA. I suspect the coming mayoral election may have a big part in Montreal's participation. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buzzcut 278 Posted February 28, 2018 Welp, we might not even get the 2026 World Cup. http://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/3400487/united-states-led-2026-world-cup-bid-in-jeopardy-to-morocco-sources 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
goalieboy82 1,014 Posted February 28, 2018 31 minutes ago, buzzcut said: Welp, we might not even get the 2026 World Cup. http://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/3400487/united-states-led-2026-world-cup-bid-in-jeopardy-to-morocco-sources 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LMU 7,546 Posted February 28, 2018 29 minutes ago, buzzcut said: Welp, we might not even get the 2026 World Cup. http://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/3400487/united-states-led-2026-world-cup-bid-in-jeopardy-to-morocco-sources Exhibit A why FIFA continues to make the IOC look squeaky clean by comparison. Despite all the problems, human rights violations, construction issues, etc., yeah, let’s throw the event back in Africa again after 16 years. And hey, let’s go ahead and commit to back-to-back in the Arabic world before even having a case study to see if it’ll even work. They're just mad that the US was the one that ended the jig for Blatter and Co. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mac the Knife 1,247 Posted March 1, 2018 10 hours ago, buzzcut said: Welp, we might not even get the 2026 World Cup. http://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/3400487/united-states-led-2026-world-cup-bid-in-jeopardy-to-morocco-sources 10 hours ago, LMU said: Exhibit A why FIFA continues to make the IOC look squeaky clean by comparison. Despite all the problems, human rights violations, construction issues, etc., yeah, let’s throw the event back in Africa again after 16 years. And hey, let’s go ahead and commit to back-to-back in the Arabic world before even having a case study to see if it’ll even work. They're just mad that the US was the one that ended the jig for Blatter and Co. Honest to whatever God you want to pray to? I hope we don't get it in 2026. It would be about the most blatant "**** you" to Donald Trump the international community could bestow, and we'd absolutely deserve it. As much as I'd love to see the WC back, it could wait until it has no association with Orange Julius Caesar whatsoever to be awarded, 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ozzyman314 299 Posted March 1, 2018 Trump wouldn’t even be president in 2026 (even in the ludicrous scenario he wins a 2nd term). So I don’t see the point in “sticking it” to him when it will be someone else catching the brunt of it. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DScruggy729 358 Posted March 1, 2018 13 hours ago, ozzyman314 said: Trump wouldn’t even be president in 2026 (even in the ludicrous scenario he wins a 2nd term). So I don’t see the point in “sticking it” to him when it will be someone else catching the brunt of it. Piggybacking off of this, I honestly don’t think Trump will be that upset about not hosting a Tournament that a majority of Americans hardly care for. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites