World Cup bid committee checks out the Dome
John Kristick, the operations manager for the USA World Cup 2018/2022 bid committee checked out the Edward Jones Dome on Monday as U.S. Soccer closes in on the cities it will submit in its World Cup bid to FIFA.
Kristick met with Mayor Slay, who as a former soccer player is enthusiastic about the prospects, and then headed over to the Dome, where the CVC, which is running the bid, borrowed a clip from Joe Buck’s HBO series about how great St. Louis is as a sports town, and had that playing on the video boards. (Among the greeting party was Bill McDermott and Kim Tucci.) Later, Kristick headed over to SLU to check out the facilities there as a potential training venue. The rest of the convention center is also being looked at as the potential site of the world broadcast center. (At the ‘94 World Cup, it was in Dallas.)
One of the questions that remains is whether or not the matches can be played on turf. The bid committee is looking at all its options, including indoor stadiums, but FIFA still hasn’t allowed World Cup matches to be played on artificial turf. (Qualifiers can, and have been.) “We’ll have to figure out whether natural grass is viable,” said Kitty Ratcliffe of the CVC. “We think it is, it’s just a question of how to get it done.”
Temporary grass fields have been installed in numerous places, including in Pontiac for the 1994 World Cup. Having been there for a match, I would say that it made the whole Silverdome rather humid. If grass had to be brought in, it would likely mean that St. Louis would get only a few first-round matches, since once the grass comes indoors, it starts dying. There’s no drainage system on the Dome floor, so watering isn’t going to happen. By the third game at Pontiac in ‘94, the grass was not in great shape. You may be able to keep the grass playable for a week, but not for much longer.
The bid committee is visiting all the sites, meeting with local officials and making sure of basics like there being enough room for the playing field. The Dome has enough width for the field, though they’d have to take out some seats to make room for other things along the sidelines.
Nothing should happen until December, when U.S. Soccer cuts the field down to those it will submit in its bid.
No way we get picked. However…Couldn’t you imagine IF we did get picked. Tom would write an article about Hope Solo’s Camaro or something or he at least would have to check with his boss Jeff Cooper.
Tom: What’s your gut feeling on the St. Louis bid?
I’m sure they’ll pick a certain number of cities in each time zone, but I think that KC stands a much better chance than St. Louis. The renovated Arrowhead Stadium is extremely nice. It played host to a Chivas-Club America friendly last Wednesday in front more than 26,000 fans. That game was only promoted for about 2 weeks.
If I had too guess, the midwest cities will be Chicago and Dallas, 2 obvious choices, possibly Nashville, who hosted a World Cup Qualifier, and KC…maybe even Indy.
I’ve thought all along that St. Louis is a long shot for a spot. There are too many other cities that you would think have to end up on the list: New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington. Then there are places like Phoenix, Philadelphia, Miami. You could fill up a list with real new stadiums that seat 75,000 people without a whole lot of trouble. Los Angeles and San Francisco are the only cities that lack giant new stadiums, and there’s a feeling that the Rose Bowl is too old and lacking in amenities. But there’s plenty of time to build a new place, though absent an NFL team, the incentive to build one might be low. But I think it’s unlikely the World Cup final would be be played somewhere other than New York or Los Angeles. With the exception of the World Cup in Japan, finals are inevitably held in the country’s main city.
I think the only way St. Louis gets it is if there is a sentiment within the bid committee to play in St. Louis, and maybe with the combination of using the convention center as the world broadcast center, that makes St. Louis more appealing.
I think Kansas City would be a longshot as well. Though if you’re looking for spots in the Central time zone, options are limited: Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Nashville and St. Louis. Indy has a newer, shinier (though slightly smaller) dome and the national team has gone to Nashville recently.
Hope doesn’t have a Camaro. She’s got some big giant 4-wheel drive truck.
Tom: I know for a fact the Bid Committee came away very impressed with Arrowhead Stadium and the entire KC Bid. But, I’m sure the Committee says the same about every city they go to. However, I also know the Committee was impressed with the good crowd for the Bud Light Classico last week (Chivas - Club America) - 26,000 with little promoting. Arrowhead has made some very nice renovations that make the KC bid very attractive. If St. Louis doesn’t get it, I sure hope KC does. It would be nice to travel only 3 hours to watch a World Cup game.