Quote:
Originally Posted by osmo
SkyDome isn't an option. People need to let it die.
Hasn't Mexico hosted twice? Mexico could host this on irs own much more easily than Canada. I just do t think there is an appetite for it there as the economy is rocky and they have some rough spots security wise in some regions of the country.
Mexico is far ahead of Canada with this.
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Time zones as mentioned are important. Brazil did well on TV as it was right in the middle for USA EST and Euro GMT and their timezones. A USA WC will mean ESPN will overpay for rights and will strong arm FIFA to create a TV friendly schedule.
Also, important is climate and clusters. We forget how diverse the climate is in the USA and this was a complaint during 1994. Travel distances were to spread out and climate variations affected the players. The switch from smoggy Southern California, to muggy swamp DC, to scorching Dallas, were all issues.
This would not be repeated and will likely present USA cities to be clusters with a bias towards EST. So in saying that, Vancouver would not be a slam dunk if it was the only Cascadia city hosting as it would be isolated from the North American rotation. Ideally Sells would host in the USA and you can have both cities cluster, only draw back is that you poach the regional audience as many would cross the border to watch games anyhow. LA-SF-Sea-Van as the PST coastal cluster would make sense, I think direct flights are in place between all those markets as well.
In saying all that, I would be surprised if CSA gets strong armed and Ottawa gets thrown in as it's in the EST.
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How is Skydome not an option? Because of the Jays? Reality check: every single US city on the hosting list has a MLB team. The schedules will be juggled to accommodate for both. You have ~ 4-5 days in between WC group matches, so I would guess that MLB games would be played when soccer is done. If I'm not mistaken, didn't some stadiums during the 1994 WC replace the grass for each game? I think that's why the costs were so high.
Re: Mexico. There is no doubt that they have the fan base, but I don't believe they have the $ or infrastructure to host a full WC. Plus, they have massive security concerns. FIFA is not going to invest in a country that is fighting a massive drug war.
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