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• 1 media/EXH_RMD16_07_0119_0007_001_031.jpg 2020-04-16T13:18:38-05:00 World Cup 1994 39 plain 2021-01-12T12:34:26-06:00 In the early 1990s, soccer was not as popular in Chicago as it would later become. But it was the most popular sport around the world, drawing billions of television viewers.
  
  The mayor’s office saw the chance to host parts of the World Cup festivities as a tremendous economic opportunity for the city. The events would draw tens of thousands of visitors and millions of dollars into Chicago’s economy. They also saw the World Cup as a chance to elevate the city’s image around the world.
  In a memo to Mayor Daley, Kathy Osterman, director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Events, pointed out that with the eyes of global soccer fans aimed at the host city, the sporting event would be “an unparalleled opportunity to encourage subsequent tourism by showing the world how beautiful Chicago is as a city.”
  Gery Chico explains that the city hoped to use the World Cup to present Chicago to global leaders like Helmut Kohl, then the Chancellor of Germany, who would be in attendance to see his national team play in the opening match:
  Sarah Pang describes the World Cup as the city’s  “coming out to the whole world,” an early effort in what would be a long-term campaign to attract global attention to Chicago. She also highlights the Mayor’s focus on Chicago’s diverse communities with international connections:
  At a press conference announcing Chicago's successful bid to serve as a host site for World Cup, Mayor Daley said,

  "We have every ethnic and racial group here in this city, and world soccer will help portray Chicago as an international city.