The USA Bid Committee concluded its eight-month host city selection process and announced the list of cities that will be included in its official bid book to FIFA to host the FIFA World Cup™ in 2018 or 2022. Orlando was not one of the 18 cities selected.
The 18 cities that have been selected for inclusion in the official USA Bid Committee bid book that will be presented to FIFA are: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C.
“I am disappointed and surprised that Orlando was not selected as one of the final 18 cities in the U. S.’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “We wish the U.S.A. Bid Committee good luck in the next phase of selections and are hopeful the U.S. will be selected in 2018 or 2022 to host the World Cup.”
Added Sam Stark, President and CEO of the Central Florida Sports Commission, “It is hard to imagine the world coming to the United States for an event like this and not including Orlando. But we will continue to support the USA Bid Committee and, in particular, the Florida cities that were selected. We will work hard to find ways to turn this into a positive experience and impact in Orlando and Central Florida.”
Eighteen cities – the maximum allowable by FIFA – have been identified as official host cities and will be included in the formal bid book that the USA Bid Committee will submit to FIFA on May 14, 2010. These 18 cities represent the entire country in the national bid and will continue working with the USA Bid Committee both on the development and promotion of their local and national campaigns during the next 10 months leading up to FIFA’s final decision, scheduled for December 2, 2010. The cities will also participate in the planning of the site visits that will be made by a technical delegation from FIFA expected to take place in September 2010.
“The United States is equipped and ready to offer FIFA the opportunity to host a passionate and successful World Cup where fans, teams, partners and media can experience the beautiful game at its highest level while allowing the world soccer family to focus on the utmost mission of the game that benefits the World as a whole,” said Sunil Gulati, the Chairman of the USA Bid Committee and President of U.S. Soccer.
“Today our hopes of becoming a host nation are strengthened many fold by the announcement of the 18 cities we will submit to FIFA on May 14,” continued Gulati. “These 18 cities share outstanding leadership with a vision and understanding of what a FIFA World Cup™ would mean to the United States, along with how well we can play the role of host to visitors from throughout the world.”
The USA Bid Committee evaluated each city’s bid individually based on 21 key criteria in order to meet FIFA’s bidding requirements. Each city was reviewed on areas ranging from market size, geographical location, climate, existing hotel space and transportation to the availability of adequate training sites, distances between facilities, diversity and its ability to provide a unique fan experience. Also of primary consideration was the history of each city related to soccer, attraction as a tourist destination and history hosting major sporting or cultural events. The stadiums affiliated with each city were judged based on its capacity, premium facilities, pitch size and overlay. The technical bid presented by each local organizing committee was crucial to the selection process as well, demonstrating the level of support and coordination between local government, civic authorities and the community. Also included in the evaluation was the marketing campaign and sustainability plan of each local organizing committee along with the local support logged by their city’s petition counter on www.goUSAbid.com.
In October, the USA Bid Committee released a study conducted by an independent consulting firm that estimates a conservative domestic economic impact of five billion dollars if the United States is chosen to host the FIFA World Cup™ in 2018 or 2022. The findings of the study indicate that the total economic impact projected for any one host city ranges from approximately $400 million to $600 million at today’s dollar value. The analysis also estimates that between 65,000 and 100,000 total new jobs would be created in the various host cities during the preparation and operation of the tournament in the year of the event. The study was undertaken by the Economics practice at AECOM, formerly Economics Research Associates (ERA), the world’s leading international sports and entertainment attraction consulting firm.
