I am tired of people knocking Edmonton. It is very underrated and is a great place to visit. It has North America's largest green space full of attractions, activities and festivals. The summers are awesome with late sunsets and good weather. It has fantastic food options from all parts of the world. There is a national park nearby. The mountains are relatively close. It would be totally unfair if Vancouver is in at the expense of Edmonton who has been in this all the way through. That's a red card in my mind if that happens.
Bummer Cincinnati is seemingly on the outs. I know Paul Brown isn't the greatest venue in the country but the city is primed with hungry soccer fans and has great facilities for events like this (MLB All-Star game for example). Selfishly was hoping to catch some games no matter who would be playing.
I hold the opinion that if FIFA announced venues and a schedule with nothing more than group letters and team numbers, and then opened up ticket sales in June 2022, they could sell out the whole damn 2026 World Cup by the end of the year. Except Edmonton.
Curious...how does Nashville go from being basically a lock to being left out because they are planning on building a brand spanking new, indoor, air conditioned mega stadium to replace Nissan, completed by 2026, seemingly in time to host matches.
Everything I saw about Nashville's bid was how the aging and kind of bland Nissan Stadium was the Achilles heel. I can't imagine Mayor Cooper and the team behind Nashville's bid not being in constant communication with FIFA about the new stadium timeline/funding/etc. Frankly, I would assume this had to have played a huge role in the city's decision to scrap Nissan and go big.
If you watch a gold cup game from ATT Stadium it is clear that it does not fit a FIFA regulation field. This is objective fact and it is not close. Can you please address this? How will that be fixed?
PSA - As sent in an email to Grant in reply to a recent podcast:
Seattle's Lumen Field was originally approved by voters *very narrowly* and arguably on the basis that the Seahawks group had committed to ensuring the facility is capable of hosting World Cup games. At the time election analysts asserted the ballot measure was successful on the basis of "the soccer vote."
Grant your reporting on WC26 sites is terrific, many thanks for the extra effort!
When I asked about "both" attending CCL I actually meant @ChrisWittyngham but perhaps yours was the better interpretation :-).
I am tired of people knocking Edmonton. It is very underrated and is a great place to visit. It has North America's largest green space full of attractions, activities and festivals. The summers are awesome with late sunsets and good weather. It has fantastic food options from all parts of the world. There is a national park nearby. The mountains are relatively close. It would be totally unfair if Vancouver is in at the expense of Edmonton who has been in this all the way through. That's a red card in my mind if that happens.
So, I assume FIFA's USA office will be for those without outstanding subpoenas.
Bummer Cincinnati is seemingly on the outs. I know Paul Brown isn't the greatest venue in the country but the city is primed with hungry soccer fans and has great facilities for events like this (MLB All-Star game for example). Selfishly was hoping to catch some games no matter who would be playing.
I hold the opinion that if FIFA announced venues and a schedule with nothing more than group letters and team numbers, and then opened up ticket sales in June 2022, they could sell out the whole damn 2026 World Cup by the end of the year. Except Edmonton.
Curious...how does Nashville go from being basically a lock to being left out because they are planning on building a brand spanking new, indoor, air conditioned mega stadium to replace Nissan, completed by 2026, seemingly in time to host matches.
Everything I saw about Nashville's bid was how the aging and kind of bland Nissan Stadium was the Achilles heel. I can't imagine Mayor Cooper and the team behind Nashville's bid not being in constant communication with FIFA about the new stadium timeline/funding/etc. Frankly, I would assume this had to have played a huge role in the city's decision to scrap Nissan and go big.
If you watch a gold cup game from ATT Stadium it is clear that it does not fit a FIFA regulation field. This is objective fact and it is not close. Can you please address this? How will that be fixed?
PSA - As sent in an email to Grant in reply to a recent podcast:
Seattle's Lumen Field was originally approved by voters *very narrowly* and arguably on the basis that the Seahawks group had committed to ensuring the facility is capable of hosting World Cup games. At the time election analysts asserted the ballot measure was successful on the basis of "the soccer vote."
SoFi Stadium is the best sports venue in the world. With a caveat: it was built to FIFA specs!
It’s surprising since owner Stan Kroenke has soccer roots planted in the USA and England.
It’s amazing moreso since LA would be hosting a World Cup, Olympics and would be viable destination for many other soccer matches.
I asked the question of Kevin Baxter of the LA Times: why would the build removable stands to make this an easy solution?