Why is Columbus hosting Manchester City vs. Chelsea soccer at Ohio Stadium?
As Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith spoke about the upcoming friendly between Chelsea FC and Manchester City at Ohio Stadium August 3, he stopped and looked up from his remarks.
“Who the hell competes friendly?” Smith asked with a grin.
Ohio Stadium will be the setting for the 178th all-time meeting between the Premier League rivals. And for many soccer fans in America, there is no better venue for an exhibition game, or a friendly as it is known in the sport, of this caliber.
“You’ve kind of seen the growth of soccer across all the U.S. And there’s certain cities that, for one reason or another, have really gravitated towards it and has shown that growth more than others,” Matt Repchak, the Chief Marketing Officer for the FC Series, told The Dispatch. “I think Columbus has been one of those. I think the Crew has had a lot to do with that. I think the city’s embrace of the sport in general is something that makes it really cool to bring an event like this here.”
Columbus was one of four cities named as hosts for the 2024 FC Series, which will host Manchester City in a series of four exhibitions around the United States. Along with Columbus, Manchester City will play in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, New York City and Orlando, Florida, this summer against Celtic, AC Milan and Barcelona, respectively.
August 3 will be Ohio Stadium's second international soccer match.
In 2016, 86,641 fans watched France's Paris Saint-Germain beat Spain's Real Madrid CF 3-1. Smith said Tuesday he expects the attendance for August's game to "blow that out of the water."
That would come as no surprise to Linda Logan, the executive director of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission.
"It hasn’t been a rapid rise, but it's been slow and steady," Logan said. "Just the fact that we have this global opportunity not only to promote our city, but to promote what we’re doing.”
Soccer is making an 'impact' in Columbus
Shaun Wright-Phillips, a former winger who played for both Chelsea and Manchester City, said Columbus has developed a reputation in the soccer world.
When his brother, Bradley, played for the Crew in 2021, Wright-Phillips said he heard that Columbus was “one of the best atmospheres” when it came to soccer. But even given that and the Crew's success over the years – three MLS Cups and three Supporters’ Shields – he said there's a “pathway” for even greater growth in the city.
“For me, it’s a learning curve,” Wright-Phillips said. “Not only for the fans to see the way the English game is played live, but for those players actually, girls, boys, that want to play soccer, to be able to enhance their game as well.”
There is a more tangible impact as well. Logan said the Chelsea vs. Manchester City match will “represent over $20 million of direct spend just for that weekend.”
And it’s not the only major soccer event that will take place in Columbus over the next few months. The city will also host the SheBelieves Cup with the United States Women’s National Team, the 2024 MLS All-Star Game and a Leagues Cup Showcase match against the Premier League’s Aston Villa.
Joshua Glessing, the Chief of Strategy and Development for the Haslam Sports Group, is pleased to see Columbus become such a soccer hub.
“Even if you don’t follow the beautiful game in the same way that I do or the same way that (Crew President and General Manager) Tim Bezbatchenko does,” Glessing said, “you can recognize the impact that soccer is having on this community.”
Tickets for the Chelsea vs. Manchester City will go on sale via Ticketmaster at 10 a.m. March 27.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why Manchester City vs. Chelsea will play at Ohio Stadium in August
