SEATTLE — In campaigning for the 2026 FIFA men's World Cup to select Seattle as one of its host cities, an executive committee wove together three things — soccer history, ingenuity and inclusiveness. But for FIFA, the sport's global governing body, the three that matter are pitch, pitch and pitch — as in grass fields.
"The pitch is everything. The pitch is sacrosanct," said Victor Montagliani, a FIFA vice president and president of CONCACAF. He was joined by Colin Smith, FIFA's chief tournaments and events officer, as leads of the delegation that spent two days evaluating Seattle's vision of a World Cup experience in the region.
The Puget Sound showed its two sides — a picturesque fall Sunday with snowcapped mountain ranges beaming in the sun and a traditional rainy Monday. Parts of the delegation were at Lumen Field both days to watch the Seahawks and Sounders FC while evaluating the facility during live events.
But a key component to hosting any World Cup games when the tournament is hosted in North America in 2026 was missing.
Grass.
"It's not just grass, it's the highest quality," Smith said of the association's requirement. "A little bit more detail on that is the consistency of playing surface. You have many different cities and many different climate conditions. We will also have different types of grass in order to cope with those conditions, but the consistency of play on those pitches will be guaranteed. That's what we look for."
The discussion revives one of the more contentious parts of Seattle's history.
In 1997, the Seahawks were in danger of being moved to California under former owner Ken Behring. The late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen offered to purchase the team to keep it in Seattle, but only if a stadium was built to replace the Kingdome using about $300 million of public money for construction.
The Washington Public Stadium Authority Bill (known as Referendum 48) gained a swell of support when Allen's plans were redesigned to include soccer with grass fields, even claiming passing the bill would help lure the Olympics, World Cup or Super Bowl. MLS also said it would grant Seattle a team if a stadium was built.
The measure passed by 51% of the vote, a difference of 36,780 people. Yet the Sounders didn't join the league until 2009, and artificial turf is the primary surface used because of the Seahawks.
"It's disappointing for those of us, and Sounders players understand why we're playing on artificial turf," said Hall of Fame goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who played for the U.S. men's national team for World Cups in France (1998) and Germany (2006) and was in goal for the Sounders from 2009-11.
"We all want to play on a great grass surface," Keller continued. "And FIFA rightfully so demands it. (Turf) is far more demanding on your body. My recovery time from playing on grass was a least two days shorter than playing on artificial. When you're talking about games being played in four or five days, it's a toll."
Grass has been installed at Lumen Field for events like Copa America in 2016. Should FIFA name Seattle as a World Cup host city, Sounders majority owner Adrian Hanauer said there's a provision from 1997 that grass will be installed.
"We will address it," Hanauer said during the news conference. "FIFA has technical parameters by which they require consistent fields across stadiums around the country. I don't know the technical aspects right now. I don't suspect it's a layover the synthetic. It's more significant than that.
"It's an even playing field. FIFA is looking at a lot of NFL stadiums, most of them have synthetic so, in my mind, this is not the most critical piece to the bid because there are seven other NFL stadiums (with artificial turf) under consideration."
The spotlight as a possible World Cup city could push several infrastructure and construction projects over the line. The Sounders and OL Reign have partnered with Tacoma in plans to build an approximately 10,000-seat stadium. Hanauer has long wanted his club to have its own training facility or the current use of Starfire Sports in Tukwila could be renovated to FIFA requirements.
After the match-day and training pitches are considered, Smith said travel is also a top-tier priority. Seattle has an edge as being equidistant from Asia to Europe and Portland to Vancouver.
The 2026 World Cup matches could be regionalized or move within similar time zones by stages of the tournament. Smith said those decisions have not been made, nor is there an indicator how many games a city could hold.
"The geographic footprint of the U.S., Canada and Mexico is by far the largest footprint that we've ever had for a World Cup," Smith said. "For fans and teams, we don't want people to have to crisscross all of the length, breath between every match. It's a factor in terms that we will look at that. We'll look at the consistency of travel starting with the teams, we need them to perform at their highest level."
Keller, who was part of the presentation, noted some countries pick a city as their home base through the tournament, building their own facilities for their stay that can be used long after the World Cup. He was confident Seattle is an attractive spot.
FIFA's visit, which included stops at the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI), Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) and Amazon's downtown headquarters, was the last of the eight cities in this trip. The final round of potential sites includes Edmonton, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Los Angeles and Toronto.
A decision should be made by March 2022.
