Record 31 Stadiums Seeking Games in 1994 World Cup

Considering that the sport is soccer and the potential for spectator appeal and economic impact are question marks, officials from the organizing committee for the 1994 World Cup were ecstatic with the number of bids received by Wednesday’s deadline from cities that want to play host to games when the tournament comes to the United States for the first time.

Chuck Cale, the organizing committee’s chief executive officer, said the international soccer federation, FIFA, reported that the 27 bids--representing 31 stadiums, including the Coliseum and Rose Bowl--were the most ever received for the World Cup.

Although there should be an asterisk by that record because the United States has many more stadiums capable of holding games than any past host country, organizing committee officials trumpeted it as an indication of the increasing interest in the sport in the United States.

The number of stadiums that will be used for the monthlong, 52-game tournament has not been determined, but Cale said the organizing committee prefers 12. They will be selected by the organizing committee, with FIFA’s approval, in December. Specific games will be assigned to those stadiums in June, 1992.

A committee representing Los Angeles and Pasadena bid for seven games--three first-round games, one second-round game, one quarterfinal, one semifinal and the final--to be played at the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl.

Other stadiums bidding for the final include the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Joe Robbie Stadium and the Orange Bowl in Miami, the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., Aqueduct Race Track in New York and Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

Organizing committee officials were relieved to receive bids from the Meadowlands and Aqueduct. They were concerned that the nearest stadium to the nation’s largest population center with an interest would be the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Conn. According to Rose Berlin, the organizing committee’s vice president for venues, selection criteria include stadium characteristics, private and public sector support, soccer interest in the community, population, geography, transportation and climate.

Several venues, including domed stadiums in Pontiac, Mich., Houston and New Orleans, have committed to converting fields, at least temporarily, from artificial turf to grass during the tournament.