THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
The U.S. Soccer Federation whittled its list of potential World Cup cities from 38 down to 27 this afternoon, and Philadelphia made the cut.
Among the notable markets that did not make it were Columbus, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. Salt Lake City came as a surprise to me because of Sunil Gulati's statement about wanting to have games in all four time zones. This leaves Denver as the only Mountain Time city in the bid process, though Phoenix observes Mountain Time in the winter.
It's a little bit interesting that Cleveland is the only Ohio city left, as Cincinnati also was eliminated at this stage. Cleveland is the biggest market in the state, but Columbus has the MLS team and the larger stadium.
The other eliminated markets were Cincinnati; Birmingham, Ala.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Minneapolis; and San Antonio.
I thought Minneapolis stood a chance on account of the new Vikings' stadium, which is outdoors. It's also probably a few degrees cooler there in July than it is in Birmingham.
Below is the list of cities and stadiums that made the cut in this round, in alphabetical order. You'll notice that the listed capacity of Lincoln Financial Field is 67,594. I've seen it listed as 68,532 on a number of occasions, but the stadium's official website uses the smaller number.
So it's not a reflection of what the capacity would be if seats get knocked out to install a wider playing surface.
Market |
Stadium |
Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta, Ga. | Georgia Dome | 71,250 |
| Baltimore, Md. | M&T Bank Stadium | 71,008 |
| Boston, Mass. (Foxborough) | Gillette Stadium | 71.693 |
| Charlotte, N.C. | Bank of America Stadium | 73,778 |
| Chicago, Ill. | Soldier Field | 61,000 |
| Cleveland, Ohio | Cleveland Browns Stadium | 72,000 |
| Dallas, Texas | Cotton Bowl | 89,000 |
| Dallas, Texas (Arlington) | Cowboys Stadium | 100,000 |
| Denver, Colo. | INVESCO Field at Mile High | 76,125 |
| Detroit, Mich. | Ford Field | 67,188 |
| Detroit, Mich. (Ann Arbor) | Michigan Stadium | 100,000 |
| Houston, Texas | Reliant Stadium | 71,500 |
| Indianapolis, Ind. | Lucas Oil Stadium | 64,200 |
| Jacksonville, Fla. | Jacksonville Municipal Stadium | 82,000 |
| Kansas City, Mo. | Arrowhead Stadium | 77,000 |
| Los Angeles, Calif. | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 93,607 |
| Los Angeles, Calif. (Pasadena) | Rose Bowl | 92,000 |
| Miami, Fla. (Miami Gardens) | Land Shark Stadium | 75,540 |
| Nashville, Tenn. | LP Field | 69,143 |
| New York/N.J. (East Rutherford) | New Meadowlands Stadium | 82,000 |
| Oakland, Calif. | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | 63,026 |
| Orlando, Fla. | Florida Citrus Bowl | 65,616 |
| Philadelphia, Pa. | Lincoln Financial Field | 67,594 |
| Phoenix, Ariz. (Glendale) | University of Phoenix Stadium | 71,000 |
| San Diego, Calif. | Qualcomm Stadium | 70,500 |
| San Francisco, Calif. (Palo Alto) | Stanford Stadium | 50,500 |
| Seattle, Wash. | Qwest Field | 67,000 |
| Seattle, Wash. | Husky Stadium | 72,500 |
| St. Louis, Mo. | Edward Jones Dome | 67,268 |
| Tampa, Fla. | Raymond James Stadium | 65,856 |
| Washington, D.C. | RFK Stadium | 45,600 |
| Washington. D.C. (Landover, Md.) | FedEx Field | 91,704 |
