U.S. Plays Cash Card With FIFA

Matthew Futterman The Wall Street Journal 12/01/2010 17:18

Former President Bill Clinton arrives for the final presentation by the U.S. to FIFA’s executive committee Wednesday in Zurich.

For nearly two years, the U.S. has acknowledged a World Cup on its shores wouldn’t bring about peace or save the world. But it should make a whole lot of money.

The U.S. team stuck with that message Wednesday in Zurich, with former President Bill Clinton finishing off the presentation with a promise to put on a 2022 World Cup that will be so profitable that it will help FIFA fulfill all of its own social goals and promises.

“I believe FIFA is the main reason soccer has become a unifying force,” Clinton said in some of his final words of the day. “The U.S. is in the best position to help you in fulfilling that mission.”

If Australia’s presentation was about fun, South Korea’s peace and Qatar’s about a new Middle East, the one from the U.S. was about cash, what U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati called a “strategic move” to maximize a growth opportunity. The record attendance of 3.6 million in the U.S.-hosted Cup of 1994 would be shattered. Media rights fees, which have been roughly doubling every four years, would increase exponentially. Not a penny would go toward constructing new stadiums.

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