Philadelphia To Learn If It Will Be One Of 18 U.S. Finalist Cities In World Cup Bid Selection Process

 WHAT:        The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Sports Congress, a division of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, Philadelphia Eagles, and Philadelphia Union will learn today if Philadelphia is one of the 18 finalist U.S. cities to host the FIFA World Cup™ in 2018 or 2022.  
The announcement will be made by the USA Bid Committee, which will present its final bid to FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, this spring.   FIFA is expected to announce the host countries for both 2018 and 2022 in December 2010.

                     Contested every four years, the FIFA World Cup™ is considered the largest sporting event in the world. Cumulative television viewership from the 2006 event in Germany was estimated at 26 billion. Hosting it would be a huge boost for soccer in America, as well as the Philadelphia region, with an estimated economic impact of $300-500 million per host city.

WHEN:          Tuesday, January 12, 2010
                     3:30 PM

WHERE:        ESPN Zone, New York City (Broadcast live on ESPN News)

NOTE:           Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Sports Congress, Philadelphia Eagles, and Philadelphia Union will be available for comment following the announcement.