It is early in the process, but soccer fans in Utah may have reason to be excited in the future.
The United States is in the midst of putting together a bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. As a part of that process, the USA Bid Committee is establishing a list of possible host cities and stadiums. The preliminary lists include about 50 locations and 70 stadiums and includes Brigham Young University's LaVell Edwards Stadium.
"The United States is uniquely qualified to stage the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022 as demonstrated by the dozens of metropolitan markets with venues capable of staging World Cup matches in every respect, from the quality of their stadiums to their overall ability to accommodate thousands of fans, news media and visitors from around the world," said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. "We will soon begin discussions with officials from throughout the U.S. in the name of presenting a world class proposal to FIFA and the global soccer community."
LaVell Edwards Stadium was rumored to be in the running as a possible host site when the U.S. hosted the 1994 World Cup, but was not one of the final choices.
Nine U.S. stadiums were used in 1994, which then featured a 24-team and 52-match format compared to today's field of 32 nations competing in 64 matches. Despite the smaller field and schedule of matches in 1994, the United States set an overall attendance mark of 3,587,538, a record that broke the previous tournament mark by more than one million fans and still stands today.
2018-2022 U.S. World Cup Bid List
NEW YORK (AP) — The 70 stadiums contacted by the USA Bid Committee to gauge interest as possible sites for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup soccer tournaments:
Ann Arbor, Mich. (University of Michigan Stadium); Arlington Texas (Dallas Cowboys new stadium); Athens, Ga. (Sanford Stadium); Atlanta (Georgia Dome); Auburn, Ala. (Jordan-Hare Stadium); Austin, Texas (Royal Texas Memorial Stadium); Baltimore (M&T Bank Stadium); Baton Rouge, La. (Tiger Stadium); Berkeley, Calif. (California Memorial Stadium); Birmingham, Ala. (Legion Field);
Blacksburg, Va. (Roanoke, Va.); Champaign, Ill. (Memorial Stadium); Charlotte, N.C. (Bank of America Stadium); Chicago (Soldier Field); Cincinnati (Paul Brown Stadium); Clemson, S.C. (Memorial Stadium); Cleveland (Cleveland Browns Stadium); College Station, Texas (Kyle Field); Columbia, Mo. (Faurot Field); Columbia, S.C. (Williams-Brice Stadium);
Columbus, Ohio (Ohio Stadium); Dallas (Cotton Bowl); Denver (Invesco Field); Detroit (Ford Field); East Lansing, Mich. (Spartan Stadium); East Rutherford, N.J. (new Meadowlands stadium); Fayetteville, Ark. (Reynolds Razorback Stadium); Foxborough, Mass. (Gillette Stadium); Gainesville, Fla. (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium); Glendale, Ariz. (University of Phoenix Stadium);
Green Bay, Wis. (Lambeau Field); Houston (Reliant Stadium); Houston (Rice Stadium); Indianapolis, Ind. (Lucas Oil Stadium); Iowa City, Iowa (Kinnick Stadium); Jacksonville, Fla. (Jacksonville Municipal Stadium); Kansas City, Mo. (Arrowhead Stadium); Knoxville, Tenn. (Neyland Stadium); Landover, Md. (FedEx Field); Lexington, Ky. (Commonwealth Stadium);
Lincoln, Neb. (Memorial Stadium); Los Angeles (Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum); Madison, Wis. (Camp Randall Stadium); Miami (Dolphin Stadium); Minneapolis (Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome); Minneapolis (TCF Bank Stadium); Nashville, Tenn. (LP Field); New Haven, Conn. (Yale Bowl); New Orleans (Superdome); Norman, Okla. (Oklahoma Memorial Stadium);
Oakland, Calif. (Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum); Orchard Park, N.Y. (Ralph Wilson Stadium); Orlando, Fla. (Florida Citrus Bowl); Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl); Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field); Pittsburgh (Heinz Field); Provo, Utah (LaVell Edwards Stadium); San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome); San Diego (Qualcomm Stadium); Stanford. Calif. (Stanford Stadium);
Seattle (Huskey Stadium); Seattle (Qwest Field); South Bend, Ind. (Notre Dame Stadium); St. Louis (Edward Jones Dome); Tallahassee, Fla. (Doak Campbell Stadium); Tampa, Fla. (Raymond James Stadium); Tempe, Ariz. (Sun Devil Stadium); Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Bryant-Denny Stadium); University Park, Pa. (Beaver Stadium); Washington (RFK Memorial Stadium)
; San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome); San Diego (Qualcomm Stadium); Stanford. Calif. (Stanford Stadium);
Seattle (Huskey Stadium); Seattle (Qwest Field); South Bend, Ind. (Notre Dame Stadium); St. Louis (Edward Jones Dome); Tallahassee, Fla. (Doak Campbell Stadium); Tampa, Fla. (Raymond James Stadium); Tempe, Ariz. (Sun Devil Stadium); Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Bryant-Denny Stadium); University Park, Pa. (Beaver Stadium); Washington (RFK Memorial Stadium)
E-mail: mblack@desnews.com