FIFA Passes on Orlando for World Cup
Local News Staff 
FIFA has chosen the host cities for the 2026 World Cup and Orlando was not among those selected.
Scott Jones, associate professor of business and marketing at Stetson University, explained in a recent interview that an outdated stadium and location of major hotels may be part of the reason for the decision.
"If you look at the list of stadiums compared to Camping World Stadium, it's not a huge surprise that compared to these more modern, newer-style stadiums, Camping World Stadium alone may not have been as attractive," Jones said. Also, while Orlando may have hotel inventory to spare for a major sports events, the distance between the bulk of the region's hotels and downtown could have played a factor, too, he added.
FIFA split up the cities across North America and by each region — west, central and east. The U.S. cities selected are Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Francisco. FIFA also picked Toronto and Vancouver in Canada and Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City in Mexico.
