The Selling Of The World Cup '94
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Forgive Alan I. Rothenberg if he sounds a little like a cheerleader. That's his job.
To the 24 international teams that will compete in the U.S. next year, the World Cup tournament is a chance for soccer immortality. To the 89-year-old Federation Internationale de Football Assn. (FIFA), the group that stages the cup, and to Rothenberg, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, it's a $1 billion marketing and promotional extravaganza that's also designed to entice Americans to finally embrace the sport. "Our plan is to open the world's largest market to the world's most popular sport," says Rothenberg.