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Ex-U.S. Soccer president Alan Rothenberg talks World Cup, new book originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The United States is preparing to host 78 World Cup matches in 11 cities this summer, as soccer dominates the country’s conscience once again.
It is the second time hosting for the U.S., following an ultra-successful run in 1994 which helped stoke interest in a sport that has long been a worldwide favorite.
Alan Rothenberg organized the World Cup in 1994 and recently wrote a book detailing his soccer journey. Rothenberg’s The Big Bounce: The Surge That Shaped The Future of U.S. Soccer was released in February and is back in the mainstream conversation with World Cup action only weeks away.
Rothenberg recently spoke about the differences between the World Cup in 1994 and 2026.
“It’s night and day,” Rothenberg told Sporting News. “Structurally, in 1994, FIFA kept the international TV rights and the international marketing rights and turned everything else over to us. We had a company and ran it like company business. We had nine venues. Everybody in those venues was an employee, so we could tell them what we wanted them to do, and if they weren’t doing a great job, we could replace them.
“This time, FIFA has decided they want to be hanging on to it and not have a separate company organize it. They have 11 American cities, each one with a host committee that’s made up differently. They have a contract with FIFA, but FIFA has no control other than enforcing the contract. Structurally, it’s different.”
Rothenberg believes the tournament will ultimately be a successful one, pointing out that once the games begin, all of the pre-event consternation is wiped away.
In addition to the 1994 World Cup, Rothenberg launched the MLS and chaired the 1999 Women’s World Cup. He also has a background working for the NBA’s two Los Angeles franchises, the Lakers and Clippers.
Now he has added book author to his resume.
“I had never written a book before,” Rothenberg said. “I had written lots of briefs, obviously, in my days as a lawyer, documents for securities and things like that, but I had never written a book. It was interesting because I didn’t have notes, didn’t keep a diary, didn’t have documents, so it was really all sitting down in front of the computer and typing away almost as if someone was interviewing me. I think it helped, because it was a little less structured and a little more conversational than had I actually documented it.”
Rothenberg said the book has been well-received.
“I don’t know if they are just being polite, but everybody has raved about it, actually,” Rothenberg said. “They’ve really enjoyed it. A lot of comments were about how it’s conversational. It’s almost like they are sitting down and talking to me rather than otherwise.”
It remains to be seen how well the 2026 World Cup itself is received, but the 1994 tournament was a clear success, and Rothenberg has enjoyed re-living that part of his past.
He has done several book signings around town in Los Angeles, which have turned into more than that.
“A few of the book events I’ve had have been reunions as much as they have been book events,” Rothenberg said. “A former law partner of mine owns a bookstore here: Chevalier on Larchmont (Boulevard in Los Angeles). They had a book event, and some of it was their customers, but probably two-thirds of it was people from my old law firm, some of whom I hadn’t seen in years.
“And then Marla Messing did one, and that was much more about the people from 1994 and 1999. Some of those people from ‘94 I hadn’t seen since ‘94. So it made it fun. It wasn’t just sitting there signing books. And the format has also been good. Sitting down and having people ask me questions. More dialogue than speeches. It’s been fun.”
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