Soccer officials tour Tampa for possible U.S. World Cup bid

Officials from FIFA, soccer's governing body, are touring the Tampa Bay area today to look at it as a potential host for World Cup matches in 2018 or 2022.

FIFA officials spent this morning looking at Raymond James Stadium, then touring Hillsborough and Pinellas counties by helicopter.

Tampa is one of 27 cities being considered for a U.S. bid to host the event. Jacksonville, Orlando and Atlanta are also on the list of potential sites for the games.

FIFA is expected to decide on 2018 and 2022 World Cups sites in December 2010. The 2010 tournament will be in South Africa, and the 2014 event will be in Brazil.

The number of cities will be trimmed to 18 in December or January by U.S. Soccer. Should the United States be awarded the World Cup, U.S. Soccer will then announce which 12 to 14 cities will host games.

he Federation Internationale de Football Association requires a host nation to have a minimum of 12 stadiums and a maximum of 18 capable of seating 40,000 or more spectators. Stadiums with a minimum capacity of 80,000 are required to host the opening match and championship match. Raymond James Stadium seated 70,774 for the Super Bowl in February.

The United States used stadiums in nine cities - including Orlando - when it hosted the 1994 World Cup.

The United States, Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico and Russia have formally declared their desire to host the event in 2018 or 2022. Netherlands-Belgium and Portugal-Spain have each submitted joint bids for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, and Qatar and South Korea have applied as candidates to host only in 2022.

Tampa Bay & Co., the city's visitors bureau, says World Cup soccer in the United States could realize an economic impact of $100 million per game. The visitors association says the overall impact of the events could be $6.4 billion.