"Alan Rothenberg has a story he wants to tell you. A lot of stories actually; enough to fill a book. So he wrote one. But that's not the first memorable work he's authored. As the man behind the 1984 L.A. Olympics soccer tournament and the 1994 World Cup, still the most successful in history, Rothenberg has arguably had more to do with writing the story of U.S. Soccer in the modern era than anyone."
""The turning point really was the Olympics," he said last month over brunch in a crowded Sherman Oaks diner. "That soccer was so successful in the Olympics, that's when FIFA thought maybe we could bring our crown jewel to the United States and not be embarrassed. "So '84 Olympics. That's a crucial part of the story. I doubt that we would be where we are now but for that.""
Alan Rothenberg organized the 1984 L.A. Olympics soccer tournament and the 1994 World Cup, still the most successful in history. The 1994 tournament drew record crowds and produced a roughly $50 million surplus. That success spurred creation of Major League Soccer and introduced operational innovations that FIFA now copies worldwide. The 1984 Olympics proved U.S. capacity to host elite soccer events and convinced FIFA the country could hold the World Cup without embarrassment. Rothenberg previously helped bring the Clippers to Los Angeles, negotiated Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's trade to the Lakers, and settled the Kings at the Forum. Now 86 and still active, he plans to attend this summer's World Cup.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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