The World Cup in a box

Despite strong competition, the US bid committee knows where it stands: amongst the highest-paying crowds in the world

For the first time ever, FIFA is awarding the status of host for two World Cup (WC) tournaments together - 2018 and 2022. This is, as the USA Bid Committee's executive director, David Downs, puts it: "A bit unusual."

The diversity of the US is a boost to ticket sales for international
matches (Photo courtesy of International Sports Images, Inc.)

The system of continental rotation guided FIFA's two most recent hosting decisions and enabled the event to include hosts from the hugely important regions of Africa and South America. So why did it have to change? Downs points out: "From South America they were left with just one bidder - so it's not necessarily the best policy."

The risk in abandoning the rotation system was that the World Cup would become weighted towards Europe, which is home to the overwhelming majority of nations that take part. As an indication of the bias, consider the fact that 53 European nations competed in the qualifiers for South Africa 2010, compared with just 50 from the rest of the world combined.

Opening up the 2018 and 2022 bids simultaneously is a FIFA strategy to attract bids from all regions. Downs says. "To encourage more bidders, they decided to do two at once. Having two realistic chances to win is an incentive to bid."

Another important reason for change is the way that broadcasting contracts are handled. "FIFA has got into the habit of awarding global broadcasting rights two World Cups at a time - so they wanted to know where the WC was going to be when they awarded these contracts."

Downs is well qualified to talk about the influence of broadcasting. He spent 20 years working for the sports division of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), where he was involved in negotiations with FIFA for TV broadcasting rights for the 1994 World Cup in the US. This was followed by nearly a decade with the US-based Spanish language broadcaster Univision.

"When I moved over to Univision, football was the number one priority. We televised up to 400 live football matches per year." As president of the sports department, Downs negotiated contracts for broadcasting rights between Univision and FIFA from 2002 to 2014.

Through his career in TV, Downs has got to know all the key figures in the US Soccer Federation, FIFA and Major League Soccer. "I've known folks on both sides of the bid process," he says.

Avoiding that pitfall, arrogance
In the contest to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, the US Bid Committee is well aware that it faces 10 formidable opponents. "We don't consider our position to be in any way stronger than anybody else's, but we are happy to compete. We cannot allow ourselves to feel arrogant or entitled. We feel that we are in a position where every single one of these countries is capable of putting on a World Cup. You know you're in a real horse race and at the end, it's a vote."

It is not enough just to demonstrate hosting potential. "In the past it was more about proving that you could feasibly host a World Cup. Now you literally have to have all the detail contracted - a 'World Cup in a box.'"

So what can the country that hosted the 1994 World Cup offer to FIFA that the other candidates can't?

A large, growing fan base
The 1994 World Cup was the catalyst for boosting interest in football in the US. "FIFA did something very smart in 1994. The country was technically ready, and there was room for growth. We launched our men's professional league on the back of the World Cup in 1996. Since then, youth registration has grown tremendously."

Host City's editor was in the US and Mexico during the 1994 World Cup tournament and can't help but recall the fact that the Mexicans seemed more interest in the competition than the hosts. Downs admits: "In 1994, the tournament didn't take the country by storm in quite the way it would do in 2018 or 2022. But the appetite has grown tremendously since 1994 and there is still tremendous room for growth."

The US now hosts a large number of major international matches. The summer of 2009 saw tours from European and Mexican teams, as well as matches between national sides, such as the CONACAF Gold Cup and World Cup qualifiers. "Attendance figures for major international soccer events in US are through the roof."

Fans in the US are not just interested in matches on their own turf either. The US is buying more tickets for the 2010 World Cup than any other country.

Changing demographics are another driver behind the surge in football's popularity in the US. "In 1994, the Hispanic population was 22 to 25 million. Today it's 45 million. By 2022 it will be 70 million. And there is no debating what the number one sport is for Hispanics - it's football. The passion for the sport will continue to grow over the next decade."

When it comes to generating mass enthusiasm for the World Cup, Downs cites Germany 2006 as the shining example that the US can aspire towards. "The spirit of Germany was fantastic. It really transcended the country and broke down barriers. The most remarkable thing was the emergence of the fan fest. Three and half million people had tickets, but 21 million went to the fan fests. There are some pretty spectacular sights in the US where we could have some fan fests."

Bigger than Springsteen
The 1994 World Cup might not have won the prize for the most highly charged atmosphere in the host nation, but it still holds the record for the highest ticket sales. "There were 52 matches in 1994; the World Cup now has 64 matches and our record still stands," Downs says.

A World Cup in the US holds the promise of blockbuster ticket sales. "It's hard to say what the economics of global currency will be in 2018 or 2022, but I personally believe that you were to bet on a nation's economy, the US is a pretty good bet."

The number of visitors from overseas is an important factor - "in New York where I live there is a tremendous amount of foreign tourism," says Downs - but what makes the US especially capable of selling World Cup tickets is the fact that there are so many people from so many different ancestries living there.

"Thirteen of the nations that played in Germany have populations in the US who claim that ancestry of over a million. So when Mexico plays Italy, you could fill the stadium ten times over - you don't need to bring people in from those countries. In 1994, the first round match between Saudi Arabia and Morocco was sold out."

An internal bidding process for host cities is underway and the US Bid Committee has no shortage of venues to choose from. "We intend to submit documentation next May for the maximum 18 potential host cities and stadiums. The number of legitimate candidates is 27; our job is to get that 27 down to 18 by May 2010."

With a couple of exceptions, all these stadiums are used in the NFL. "There are a number of soccer-specific stadiums in the US, but almost all are in the 20-30,000 capacity range so they would serve as training sites. We'd average capacities closer to 80,000 for our World Cup stadiums. The good news is that NFL stadiums are being built faster than we are evaluating them and developers are astute enough to factor in events such as Real Madrid's summer tour."

At Dallas Cowboys' new stadium with the retractable roof, the first two competitive matches were soccer matches. "When they built this stadium, they took the field configuration for soccer in mind."

As the NFL season is 16 games long, the stadiums are only used for eight home games a year, so scheduling other events is crucial. "If you don't build it with events like the FC Barcelona or Bruce Springsteen tours in mind then you are in trouble."

A unique story
A successful bid must have a powerful narrative to differentiate the candidate from the competition. "The bid campaign is about storytelling: we need to really tell the story of how the World Cup in the US will positively effect social change around the world."

Asked how an American event could help the rest of the world, Downs answers: "The profits of an enormously financially successful cup could go into organisations such as the US-founded Grass Roots Soccer, which my son works for in Africa, delivering an educational programme on AIDS. Charitable organisations use the sport of football because that is what's going to resonate in Asia, Africa and South America. The US could be the leading exporter of such projects."