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Report: Executives discussing permanent Pan-American tournament

Photo by Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports
Photo by Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports

The Copa America Centenario in the U.S. was billed as a one-time event to celebrate 100 years of CONMEBOL. It looks like bosses from the South American confederation and CONCACAF want it to continue.

According to a Bloomberg report, the executives are pushing for a permanent tournament of the Americas, which could begin as early as 2020.

As a result of these talks, CONCACAF is also considering hosting the Gold Cup every four years to accommodate the new tournament.

The report also states that last summer’s Copa America generated around $400 million, even though the tournament was in danger of being canceled due to allegations of corruption leading up to the competition. Executives feel that with more time to sell to sponsors and spark a bidding war for commerical rights, they will earn even more money.

The Copa America Centenario generated four times more than what the Gold Cup produces, which is surely a major reason why executives are discussing a regular tournament.

Euro 2016 garnered around $2 billion and Patrick Nally, the man who is referred to as the “founding father” of modern sports marketing, says a combined tournament of the Americas would generate half of what the Euros earned.

“As a tournament it would be very strong commercially,” said Nally. “The U.S. is a very commercially viable market with more broadcast and media opportunities as soccer is gathering more and more momentum there.”

Fox is reportedly interested in purcashing the English-language television rights for the new tournament, as would Univision, who owned the Spanish-language broadcast.

Comments

  1. Every four years a Gold Cup sounds great to me. Pan-American tournament would be amazing money wise and new competition for Centro American and Caribe teams.

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  2. i don’t see why this isn’t a done deal yet?! other rumors show Gold Cup will continue to be every two years and expand to 16 (4×4). i am still working on accepting the major changes to the WC but these are only positive changes.

    2019 – Gold Cup (16) / Copa America (12)
    2020 – Pan-American Tournament (16)
    2021 – Qualifying / Gold Cup (16)
    2022 – WC
    —-repeat—-

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    • I don’t understand the need to to expand the GC. This year Curacao, Martinique, and French Guiana qualified from the Caribbean, adding four more teams would include Suriname, upset losers TnT and Haiti, and Belize from the Centro Americana.

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      • However, you are still likely to end up with the same 8 teams, those two third place teams will just come in as second places haven beaten Cuba and Belize for second instead of beating Cuba for third.

  3. We better enjoy football as we know it now because pretty soon it’ll look like the NBA or NFL. 10 seconds of action for every 5 minutes of commercials.
    You wanted mainstream USA to embrace soccer? you about to get your wish.Unfortunately.

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    • I’m almost positive SBI pays you to troll this site in order to stir the pot, otherwise you’re most certainly a very alone and unhappy person. Even by haters standards, what you just typed makes no sense. I’ve ignored you for a while…I’m more fascinated with you at this point. Who do you support? Are you living stateside? Are you an angry Mexican? Is there a site somewhere where you actually provide decent, positive feedback/ commentary?

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    • 10 seconds of action for 5 mins of commercials.

      Please explain how they are going to have a soccer game like that….in detail.

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    • Meh. If you look at how this qualifying round went, there was continuity from prior qualifying struggles, the playoff game with Mexico, the Gold Cup. The misleading bit In the middle was Copa America.

      At least one problem with that quality of event is it problematizes using the event for evaluation when needed. We needed more to look at new players than to go to the well in order to be competitive. But we erred on the side of tried and trusted to get some results. When we went back to playing games for real, we got clobbered with those older players. We didn’t have a plan B.

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      • If this had been a regular event you would have a point. However, telling veterans like Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones, and Geoff Cameron sorry you can’t play in the 2nd most prestigious international tournament because we want to try out some above average MLS guys or some Euro guys who don’t play for their clubs would be a slap in the face to them. The only team that used the tournament as a experience for their younger players was Brazil and that got their coaches fired.

        Its easy to say in hindsight we should have played younger guys, but you cannot predict even with older players, injuries to Cameron, Dempsey, Jones, Morris, and Zardes (that’s 1/3 of the likely 14 to see action in a game and Kljestan breaking his nose and being limited). As well as Nagbe throwing a tizzy about not starting and being pretty awful for Timbers, and Yedlin being an on again off again starter for Newcastle. The problem wasn’t with the talent it was with how to communicate to them how to play as a team. When Bruce announces his first meaningful 23 in March its going to be pretty much the same guys JK would have called if everyone is healthy. The Gold Cup this Summer will see some of those younger fringe guys given a chance against the likes of Curacao and Canada, not Colombia and Paraguay.

  4. Everyone loves cash money so this is a no-brainer. I assume there will be a Gold Cup and a South American only Copa America every four years as well (the year after the world cup I guess) with the Pan-American competition held two years after the world cup?

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  5. i obviously love the idea. especially with the Gold Cup going to ever 4 years. lets get this done. one note…i don’t see anything about a permanent host. are they looking at having this move around? it seems, based on the wording, that they intend to host in the US. all the “market viability” comments are about the US. i guess i have my answer…

    kind of a bummer as the US needs to play away from home more often. even if a stadium in the US is 51%+ the other team, it’s not the same as being in another country. one exception…2011 Gold Cup final with 80+% Mexico fans at the Rose Bowl. that atmosphere for a “home” game was something else.

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    • Considering that Mexico plays most of its “home” friendlies in the US, for sure this event will be held in the US. Perhaps they will include some sites from Canada and Mexico in the future, but the money is in the US. I imagine this tournament will also generate a lot more $ than the South American tournament, no matter where that is held.

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      • yes, they should give some semblance of including other countries as “hosts”, even if a joint Canada/US bid or joint Mexico/US bid is just meant to continue the event in the US without raising the ire of Fifa or well off countries in Conmebol who feel they are being robbed. Hell, even rotate it….USA, Mex/US, Can/US, Brazil, USA….

      • right, reading between the lines makes it almost a guarantee it’s always in the US. maybe once it is stable we’ll see them be a bit more adventurous.

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