From the AP:
"We are not asking, as will be the case in many places around the world, for cities and states to spend millions or tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars on infrastructure or venues. Given the nature of the United States, we're not going to need to build any hotels, any highways, any telecommunications centers, any training fields or any of those sorts of things to support a World Cup. Clearly, they'll be some modifications or upgrades will be needed in some venues, but that's eight, 10, 12 years from now."
Nine stadiums were used for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, and Los Angeles and San Francisco are the areas most in need of upgraded facilities.
Gulati hopes there could be more venues in the next U.S. World Cup, especially since the tournament expanded from 24 teams to 32 for 1998.
From the NYT:
From the north (Green Bay, Wis.), south (Birmingham, Ala.), east (East Rutherford, N.J.), west (Los Angeles) and places in between (Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Dallas; Salt Lake City; Baton Rouge, La.), the list is an opening salvo in an effort to show officials at FIFA that the United States has the chops to practically put on multiple tournaments simultaneously.
The extensive list also includes several stadiums that are under construction: the new Giants and Jets stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands; TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis); the new Dallas Cowboys cathedral in Arlington, Tex.
Sources:
US Soccer: Plenty of time for new stadiums
Associated Press
April 9, 2009
U.S. Soccer Pitches Big Tent for World Cup Bid
Goal, the New York Times Soccer Blog
April 10, 2009
