Banc of California Stadium will stage Gold Cup soccer matches next summer
Banc of California Stadium, which has hosted four Major League Soccer games since its grand opening last month, is one of 15 venues chosen to stage matches for next summer’s expanded CONCACAF Gold Cup.
CONCACAF will roll out the announcement of the other 14 venues in 13 U.S. metropolitan areas this week. The tournament is scheduled to play over three weeks in June and July.
“The venues selected thus far offer a mix of soccer history as well as a taste of the future of the sport in the U.S. and we are excited to work with the local host committees to bring the game to fans all over the U.S.,” CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani said in a statement.
Banc of California Stadium, home to the Los Angeles Football Club, an MLS expansion team, is the newest and most expensive soccer-specific venue in the U.S. The price tag for the Exposition Park venue was $350 million.
The regional championship for teams in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, the Gold Cup is expanding to 16 teams this year. Six teams — Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and the U.S. — have already qualified for the tournament by virtue of reaching the final, hexagonal round of World Cup qualifying in 2016. Ten other teams will qualify for the Gold Cup next fall.
The Gold Cup is played every two years.
Follow Kevin Baxter on Twitter @kbaxter11
