WORLD CUP : Pasadena’s Big Festival Plans Fizzle; World Cup USA Blamed
It was supposed to be Pasadena’s own family-oriented soccer festival, a celebration that would generate more than $600,000 profit for the city and allow it to showcase its cultural diversity.
Plans for Soccer Carnaval--a monthlong combination of soccer, crafts, live entertainment and an international food court--were launched after Pasadena lost the official recreational event sponsored by World Cup USA ‘94, known as Soccerfest, to Los Angeles last year.
But with two days to the first game in Pasadena, Soccer Carnaval has no corporate sponsors, has dropped plans for an admission price and this week moved its location.
“I think we’ll be lucky if this ludicrous thing makes anything,” said Councilman Isaac Richard.
Council members say World Cup USA opposed Soccer Carnaval’s opening on game days and advised major corporate sponsors not to get involved, leaving Pasadena short of the predicted revenue and without a showcase for the city.
“World Cup USA doesn’t want us to have this event at all,” said Councilman Chris Holden. “They’ve done everything possible to block this event for our city because they fear it will take away from their Soccerfest.”
The council in closed session Monday decided to ignore World Cup’s wishes and open the festival on game days.
It also decided to move the event from the Jackie Robinson baseball stadium to nearby Brookside Park to take the event out of the area controlled by World Cup on game days, according to council members.
“We’ll have plenty of fans from the games on game day,” said Michael Jensen, head of Pasadena Productions, a private production firm that is staging the event with the city.
Soccer Carnaval’s celebration of soccer and Pasadena will begin Monday, three days after the start of World Cup, when the festival was originally going to start. It will run until at least July 20, three days after the cup final, Jensen said.
Sue Carpenter, World Cup USA’s Pasadena venue spokeswoman, said the organizers of Soccer Carnaval have done an ineffective job on publicity and have only themselves to blame.
“Don’t blame World Cup. I haven’t seen any publicist in Pasadena on this event,” she said. “I don’t know what Soccer Carnaval is, but I do know 500,000 booklets on Soccerfest have gone out.”
Leaders of Pasadena Productions, a group of renowned event organizers that produced the Live Aid concert, acknowledged they didn’t even get permits for the event until June 9.
Pasadena’s Soccer Carnaval was supposed to generate $3.2 million through major sponsors, a $10 adult admission charge, sales taxes, permit fees and $7,000 retail booth rentals. More than $650,000 profit was expected to come to the city.
But the city never got any major corporate sponsors. City officials said Coca-Cola was one company that backed off after World Cup warned it away. Jensen said the celebration with soccer clinics, more than 50 live acts, 20 restaurants and 30 retailers and special days to celebrate different cultures will now be free except for some special evening concerts.
Organizers now think the city will get less than half the profit predicted, $300,000. Jensen’s group will bear most of the costs, with the city paying only for extra policing and health department activities.
Game Schedule
The World Cup competition runs from Friday to July 17 in nine U.S. cities, including Pasadena. The first game at the Rose Bowl is Saturday. Here is the Rose Bowl schedule and starting times:
June 18, Saturday: Colombia vs. Romania, 4:30 p.m.
June 19, Sunday: Cameroon vs. Sweden, 4:30 p.m.
June 22, Wednesday: United States vs. Colombia, 4:30 p.m.
July 3, Sunday: Round of 16 match, 4:30 p.m.
July 13, Wednesday: Semifinal, 4:30 p.m.
July 16, Saturday: Third-place game, 12:30 p.m.
July 17, Sunday: Final, 12:30 p.m.
