Jacksonville in running to host Copa America games

[johnnyliar]

Worlds largest screens weren't enough of a draw? Here's hoping for some other soccer events soon!

[Ajax]

Darn, no Gold Cup matches.
http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/12/16/7404407/gold-cup-2015-host-cities-usmnt-mexico-venues

Saw this earlier and my thinking is it doesn't bode well for us, but still keeping fingers crossed for some centenario matches (which I think would be a bigger get)

Absolutely the Centenario in 2016 is what we want.  Much bigger competition - it will probably be the biggest event for USMNT fans since World Cup 94 - the next time we might be lucky enough to host something as large would be the 2026 World Cup at the earliest. 

Also, Atlanta and Miami are already out of the running for 2016 since their venues will be undergoing construction.  So Jacksonville's competition in the southeast for the 2016 matches will be Tampa and Charlotte.  I would think Jacksonville is ahead of both of those cities based on recent attendance, although we can't overlook the fact that Farrukh Quraishi has just been named GM of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, and he had a prominent role in Orlando's hosting of World Cup games in 1994.  Charlotte has an opportunity to shine or stub their toe with the 2015 Gold Cup.  It will be harder to get fans to turn out for that game, especially if the US isn't involved.  So if Charlotte gets stuck with, say Panama vs. Honduras (nothing against those teams - I would go but that's not exactly going to fire up the moderate fans), I'm not sure if that really helps their cause. 

Maybe I'm guilty of being a homer, but Jacksonville has stepped up for the last two USMNT games, and remember that Shad Khan did US Soccer a solid favor by letting them use Craven Cottage a couple of months ago for the USMNT match vs. Colombia on short notice.  Even if we don't get a US game, there are going to be some really good teams competing in this tournament and as others have mentioned - those fans travel.  One or two plane connections isn't going to stop them.   

[Ajax]

Worlds largest screens weren't enough of a draw? Here's hoping for some other soccer events soon!

Oh yeah, that reminds me - we have the Florida Cup here at Everbank on January 17th: http://jaxevents.com/event/florida-cup-soccer/

It's a doubleheader featuring Bayer Leverkusen and FC Koln from Germany, and Corinthians and Fluminense from Brazil.  If we have a good turnout for this we can get some more nice stuff in the future. 

[urbanlibertarian]

Hey, marksjax.  Which one of these teams will you be the local headquarters for?  :-)

[Ocklawaha]

Seriously, we're making this thread about flights to South America? I post that Jax might host some games in one of the worlds biggest soccer tournaments, and one post from Ock noone-ing the thread on the only two topics he seems able to discuss, and boom, forget the hordes of tourist that might flock to the city, the international exposure, the opportunity to see some of the world's greatest athletes up close and personal.... Sigh

I think what Ock is referring to is that there aren't enough flights in and out of Jax to support a large contingent for this. That makes it tough to be a host.

My reply was that for a number of flights in and out of SA, I have to route through Miami. Therefore any one trying to get here would probably have to do the same.

So while we wen't jumping on the Copa bandwagon per se, I think we were trying to say that there are some hurdles to overcome to attract large crowds from our latin neighbors.

I agree that if Jax is able to host a part of it, that would be great for us and for US Soccer.

Nah. Ole Ock has no idea this thread is about soccer.

Yeah old Ock still walks around the house in MEDELLIN NATIONAL slippers! If your city is insignifigant enough not to have international services at least to the Americas, your not getting much notice on the international scale. Copa flys 737's (smaller AC) and is aggressively expanding. An aggressive COJ might have turned this into a GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! Crickets...  See you at the Armada matches!

[fsquid]

Mexico loves playing in Charlotte, so that isn't a surprise that they get Group C matches.

[Gamblor]

Mexico loves playing in Charlotte, so that isn't a surprise that they get Group C matches.

El Tri is happy to play anywhere in the US but Columbus Ohio!   .... but in all seriousness, while you're totally correct Mexico has had a lot of success in Charlotte, they've had success packing out/winning in any NFL size stadium they get put in to here

Just to relate it to Copa America though, while I can't stand El Tri, I'd love to play host to that contingent. That'd be a dream come true. Could probably expect around 70 to 100 thousand fans.

[Gamblor]

Officially under consideration...

[fsquid]

oh please sweet baby Jesus.

[ProjectMaximus]

Orlando is a surprise. Anyway, hope our giant scoreboards help us land something!!

[control]

Great opportunity to show Jacksonville's support of soccer next Saturday at Everbank, double header of Corinthians vs. Bayer Leverkusen & Fluminense vs. FC Koln.  When was the last time a knockout-stage Champions League team played here?   

Unfortunately I have heard that ticket sales have been very low. 

[pierre]

Great opportunity to show Jacksonville's support of soccer next Saturday at Everbank, double header of Corinthians vs. Bayer Leverkusen & Fluminense vs. FC Koln.  When was the last time a knockout-stage Champions League team played here?   

Unfortunately I have heard that ticket sales have been very low.

Not a surprise. This does not have the cache of the US team, which sells well here.

[Gamblor]

Great opportunity to show Jacksonville's support of soccer next Saturday at Everbank, double header of Corinthians vs. Bayer Leverkusen & Fluminense vs. FC Koln.  When was the last time a knockout-stage Champions League team played here?   

Unfortunately I have heard that ticket sales have been very low.

I've been hearing this too, which is fairly disappointing. I was hoping sales would ramp up after the holidays, and while I doubt teams will run out their top talent, for those of us that turn out, I'm sure we'll still see some great football. We're going to at least see a UEFA Champions League team that has been really, really solid all year (atleast in the 10 games or so of theirs I have caught)... and I believe we all know the answer to your question is zero. At least from the UEFA Champions League. DC United were in CONCACAF Champions League when they visited but I doubt that's the Champions League you were referencing

[blizz01]

Does JAX still have skin in the game?


http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer-news/4659077-copa-america-2016-centenario-us-host-us-soccer-conmebol-concacaf

[Adam White]

Does JAX still have skin in the game?


http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer-news/4659077-copa-america-2016-centenario-us-host-us-soccer-conmebol-concacaf

I just saw this article this morning:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/us-move-forward-hosting-2016-copa-america-222027090.html#MRlaZPw

Apparently the FIFA (and CONCACAF) corruption issues have caused the tournament to take a bit of a back seat.