Coming to the end of this very long process.
Houston’s diversity is being played up in the city’s recent push to host the 2026 men’s World Cup. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner joined forces with prominent business people and community leaders to highlight the benefits of featuring such a rich multicultural community on the biggest stage for the global pastime.
Houston is one of 17 U.S. candidates that will be whittled down to 11 host slots for the 2026 games, hosted jointly between the United States, Canada and Mexico, which will provide another five host cities. With FIFA officials set to make a site visit to Houston Oct. 26 to prepare for their final decision later this year, local stakeholders are hammering the point harder than ever.
“Soccer is the world’s game, and as one of the most diverse cities in North America, bringing the World Cup here is a perfect match,” said Chris Canetti, former president of the Houston Dynamo and Dash and president of the Houston 2026 World Cup Bid Committee.
If chosen, Houston would host six games that would likely bring tens of thousands of fans to the city. Some would watch the game at the 70,000-plus seat NRG Stadium and more would simply soak up the atmosphere at bars, restaurants and gathering spots around the city.
Host cities could net between $90 million and $480 million beyond taxpayer contributions, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group. Previous World Cups, including the 1994 U.S. tournament, have burdened public funds, but North American stakeholders say host cities can avoid unnecessary expenditures in 2026 by utilizing preexisting infrastructure, such as the Houston Texans’ home.
Officials said that 2026 is still working through the cost estimates with FIFA and expect to have more details after the Oct. 26 site visits.
[…]
While many media rankings give Dallas the slight edge over Houston due to the city’s larger AT&T Stadium, the Bayou City’s bid committee is touting Houston’s diversity and pointing to the city’s successful track record of hosting major sporting events, including the Super Bowl and Final Four.
See here for the last update. I’ll skip my usual nattering about the uselessness of these sports-related economic projections and just admit up front that it would be cool to host some World Cup games. The linked article at the end tries to suss out which 11 cities from the 17 contenders will get to host those games. I don’t see why Houston and Dallas have to be in competition with each other any more than they are with the other 15 wannabes, but we’ll know soon enough. I’m ready for this to be settled.
I believe both Dallas and Houston will be selected for hosting WC games, but Dallas will get some of the plum Quarterfinal or Semifinal matches.
Ain’t gonna happen. BBVA, with ‘real’ grass, is too small, and NRG, with ‘real’ grass being trucked in and rolled out has too many problems with undulations, seams, dead spots, piles of sand where the rolls meet, is a bridge too far with FIFA…and after seeing dozens of international games there, I’d agree – horrible (temporary) pitch for soccer played at WC level. Why the Texans, with a retractable roof stadium, ditched real grass in 2015 is a mystery.
Most football players don’t care for artificial turf at all.
http://www.synturf.org/images/2008_NFLPA_Surface_Survey.pdf
In an ideal world, FIFA would care about that. But i would bet anything that there will be key matches played on the roll away grass.