U.S. World Cup Bid Committee Announces 27 Stadiums In Contention

From the U.S. Soccer site, here is the list:

Atlanta--Georgia Dome (71,250 capacity)
Baltimore--M & T Bank Stadium (71,008)
Boston--Gillette Stadium (71,693)
Charlotte--Bank of America Stadium (73,778)
Chicago--Soldier Field (61,000)
Cleveland--Cleveland Browns Stadium (72,000)
Dallas-- Cotton Bowl (89,000)
Dallas-- Cowboys Stadium (100,000)
Denver--INVESCO Field (76,125)
Detroit--Ford Field (67,188)
Detroit--Michigan Stadium (108,000)
Houston--Reliant Stadium (71,500)
Indianapolis--Lucas Oil Stadium (64,200)
Jacksonville, Fla.--Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (82,000)
Kansas City--Arrowhead Stadium (77,000)
Los Angeles--Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (93,607)
Los Angeles--Rose Bowl (92,000+)
Miami--Land Shark Stadium (75,540)
Nashville--LP Field (69,143)
New York/N.J.--New Meadowlands Stadium (82,000)
Oakland--Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (63,026)
Orlando--Florida Citrus Bowl (65,616)
Philadelphia--Lincoln Financial Field (67,594)
Phoenix/Glendale--University of Phoenix Stadium (71,000)
San Diego--Qualcomm Stadium (70,500)
San Francisco--Stanford Stadium (50,500)
Seattle--Qwest Field (67,000)
Seattle--Husky Stadium (72,500)
St. Louis--Edward Jones Dome (67,268)
Tampa--Raymond James Stadium (65,856)
Washington, D.C.--RFK Stadium (45,600)
Washington, D.C.--FedExField (91,704)

There are a few sites on here that I think are pretty much guaranteed locks--Fed Ex Field, Qwest Field, Rose Bowl and the Meadowlands. Other sites that I think are very likely are St. Louis (too much history to ignore), Lincoln Financial Field, LP Field (Nashville), Charlotte, Oakland/San Francisco if they can expand those facilities and either Jacksonville or Tampa.

I think it would be neat to turn a famed American football stadium at University of Michigan into a soccer field and it seats over 100,000. University of Michigan could make a killing on that idea. Keep in mind that one of the bigger concerns will be hotel/lodging spaces, transportation matters, security and training facilities. The more colleges and/or soccer specific stadium/facilities that are nearby, the more likely a site is to be selected. Aside form maybe Cowboys stadium, which just opened, each of these sites will see a signficant upgrade in facilities.