It seems the only Olympic hangover in regards to the City of Chicago's part of the U.S. 2018/2022 World Cup bid was being felt by the city itself. The Chicago News Coop is reporting this morning that it wasn't so much that Chicago wasn't selected as a host city in the U.S.'s final but rather that the city demanded it be taken off the list. Earlier this week, the bid committee (we got burnt out on that phrase a long time ago) announced the 18 cities that will be included in the U.S.'s final bid for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. Chicago was not on the list while smaller cities like Indianapolis and Kansas City were. more ›

There will be no FIFA World Cup soccer at Soldier Field for a while. Chicago got dealt another international sporting event blow today when the U.S. World Cup bid committee announced the 18 cities it will include in its final bid as host cities and Chicago is not on the list. Nevermind that Chicago was a host city for the 1994 World Cup - not to mention host of the Opening Ceremonies (as well as several international friendly matches and World Cup qualifiers). Indianapolis and Kansas City were the only Midwest cities to make the cut. During the live announcement, "Olympic fatigue" was mentioned as a factor (ouch). more ›

Now that we're past the Chicago 2016 failure, attention can now turn to the next major sporting event bid: the World Cup. While the U.S. men's national team has secured its spot in South Africa for next summer's World Cup (woo! CONCACAF Hexagonal Champs!) and Rio prepares to host the 2014 World Cup as a tune-up for the 2016 Olympics, bidding is underway for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments. And, of course, the U.S. has thrown its hat in the ring for both. The U.S. joins a bevy of countries competing for 2018 and 2022 including England, Russia, and Australia. more ›