Soccer officials in Americas to discuss future joint events

Soccer officials in Americas to discuss future joint events

After staging a successful expanded Copa America in the United States for the tournament’s 100th anniversary, soccer officials intend to discuss whether to establish a new event that would see regular competition between the regions.

[...] the U.S. Soccer Federation hopes this year’s tournament could be a springboard to hosting a World Cup for the second time.

With only the final and third-place game remaining, the 16-nation tournament has drawn 1.36 million fans, an average of 45,491.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean, is a 12-nation tournament played in odd-numbered years.

New CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani said a new event could be scheduled for the even-numbered years between World Cups — when the European Championship is played — or the year before World Cups.

Montagliani said CONCACAF would have to scale back the Gold Cup to once every four years to create room on soccer’s crowded calendar.

Attendance and TV viewership, according to Gulati, are evidence “the U.S. is really very much an immigrant community.”

Argentina’s 4-0 semifinal win over the U.S. on Tuesday was seen by 8.1 million viewers in the U.S., 4.8 million viewers on Univision and 3.3 million on Fox Sports 1.