The USA World Cup Bid Committee, charged with convincing FIFA that the United States would be a fine place to hold the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, released their list of eighteen cities that will be included in the final bid book today.


Here's the list:

Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C.


The response to the list centered not on the included cities, many of which were expected choices (New York, Washington, Dallas, etc.) but on the most notable omission.

Where's Chicago?


Chicago's reputation, not only as a soccer town but as a world class venue for big time sports, took a hit with the city's failure to win the 2016 Olympics. Not only was did the city's bid not win, it didn't make it out of the first round of voting. That's a pretty big shot across the ego bow, and it's likely the Olympic failure had some role to play in Chicago's omission from the host cities list.


In fact, Sunil Gulati intimated as much in today's press conference, mentioning "Olympic fatigue".


Needless to say, soccer fans in the Chicagoland area aren't too happy about today's announcement. Chicago's inclusion was a foregone conclusion, or so we thought, and there's some understandable lashing out occurring.


Over at Pitch Invasion, Tom Dunmore posits that Chicago's mayor, Richard Daley, fell short in supporting Chicago's candidacy. Perhaps the mayor was sick of the whole "international sporting event" thing after the Olympic debacle, or perhaps he also viewed his city as a shoe-in no matter the level of effort; either way, someone screwed up, because there are very few (if any) legitimate reasons for passing over Chicago for this World Cup bid.


It also appears that Indianapolis was the beneficiary of Chicago's failure, being the only Midwestern city on the list. Granted, there's a glimmering new facility in Indianapolis (Lucas Oil Stadium) and the city is far from second-rate; but I'm doubtful it would have made the cut had Chicago been included.


So what happened? Did the city fail to make assurances that Soldier Field would meet guidelines the Bid Committee laid out? Did Daley really submarine the city's inclusion, or was arrogance involved? It's impossible to tell from our outside observer's viewpoint, but I'm guessing it was a combination of factors.

Effect on the Bid's Strength


Chicago-area resident's anger and disappointment aside, the larger issue at hand is how the city's omission might affect the American bid. Chicago has size, amenities, and a quality venue (I'm not sold that Soldier Field's smaller capacity had much to do with Chicago not being on the list) to go with an international reputation; while Indianapolis, Nashville, and Kansas City are fine cities with strong qualities, none of them carry the same cache that the country's third largest city does. To use an analogy, the US Bid Committee leaving out Chicago would be like England's bid omitting Liverpool; it's almost unthinkable.


Still, I'm not sure how much a Chicago-less bid really hurts the American effort. The cities included all have quality venues (or middling venues that should be replaced by 2018 or 2022), sufficient lodging, public transportation, and other features that make them attractive hosts; while Chicago is a "name" city, the sheer quantity of large metropolitan locales and large stadiums in the United States make its omission slightly less significant than it might appear.


The US bid will have the most possible tickets to be sold and the largest television contract. While the size of the country is an issue, travel here for both fans and teams should pose no problem. Security will be easier to coordinate, and resources to do so with should be easy to obtain. With a large population possessing varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds as well as massive spending power, the US World Cup bid will be an impressive one, Chicago or not.


But...


A World Cup without Chicago, provided the US wins one of the two bids up for grabs, just won't feel right.

Soldier Field during the Opening Ceremonies of World Cup '94