After the IOC, FIFA. After the Games, the World Cup. The fear of budgetary slippage no longer only affects the Olympic movement. The world of football is hit in turn. Surprise: the phenomenon affects North America, where major sporting events are nevertheless the business of the private sector.
This Friday, March 16, the two application files for the 2026 Football World Cup must be sent to FIFA. Morocco brought forward the call by a day. Moulay Hafid Elalamy, the president of the bid committee, announced it on Thursday on his Twitter account: “Sending the bid book to Fifa”. A press conference is planned for Saturday March 17 in Casablanca. She must reveal all the details of the Moroccan project.
The American trio will follow this Friday. The United States, Canada and Mexico lifted a corner of the veil yesterday by revealing the list of 23 cities included in the project. Unsurprisingly, the geographical balance of the file leans clearly towards the United States. No less than 17 American cities were selected: Arlington (Texas), Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, East Rutherford (New Jersey), Foxborough (Massachusetts), Houston, Inglewood or Pasadena (California), Kansas City (Missouri), Landover (Maryland), Miami, Nashville (Tennessee), Orlando, Philadelphia, Santa Clara (California), and finally Seattle.
On the Canadian side, three cities appear on the list: Edmonton in Alberta, Montreal and Toronto. Finally, the file is completed by three Mexican cities: Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey.
Clarification: only two of the cities chosen by the joint project of the three countries had hosted matches at the 1994 World Cup in the United States: Pasadena (Rose Bowl) and Orlando (Citrus Bowl).
So far, the project seems solid. The Americans announce an average capacity of 68.000 spectators in the selected stadiums, with three venues seating 87.000 or more. In the opposite camp, the largest Moroccan stadium, in Casablanca, has a capacity of 67.000 seats. But FIFA requires at least 80.000 seats for the opening match and the final.
According to estimates, FIFA would obtain around $300 million more in television rights in North America than in Morocco. Conversely, it is certain that the Moroccan time zone would be significantly more favorable to broadcasters in Europe and Asia.
But, surprisingly, the last few days have revealed that North American cities are not rushing to take part in the adventure. In the United States, Chicago and Minneapolis have withdrawn. The two metropolises explained that they had not obtained the necessary guarantees from FIFA regarding the budgetary commitment of local authorities. Clearly, they do not want to risk putting the slightest tax burden on their taxpayers. Among these two withdrawals, that of Chicago turns out to be the most emblematic, the capital of Illinois housing the headquarters of the American Football Federation (US Soccer).
Same trend in Canada. In British Columbia, the government announced mid-week that it was withdrawing from the race. Vancouver will therefore not participate in the project. The city hosted the final of the Women's Football World Cup in 2015.
More surprising: the Edmonton case. The Alberta city officially appears in the list presented Thursday by the leaders of the American project. But just hours after the selected sites were revealed, the Alberta government announced that it would not financially support the project. Ricardo Miranda, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, said via a press release that the information he had was “still insufficient” to be certain that the event would not leave a slate for taxpayers to wipe clean. Edmonton could therefore soon disappear from the list, leaving only Montreal and Toronto to represent the Canadian component.
Less than three months before the FIFA vote, scheduled for June 13 in Moscow, the two issues have undoubtedly never been so close. The American project seemed to multiply its assets. He is currently revealing his weaknesses.
