Sign Online Petition: We Want World Cup in Miami!

Miami World Cup bid. It's getting squirrel.

​On the cusp of the South Africa World Cup starting, supporters of the bid to get the event back to the USA and in Miami for the first time ever are asking for Miamian help in a 100k TODAY campaign. The Miami Sports Commission is looking for individuals to fill out an online petition at www.gousabid.com/miami, and then to go back to it and fill it out again if you have multiple emails.

They also want you to text MIAMI to 22442, as many times as possible, and then tell all your friends about it.

In some ways the Miami bid is a no-brainer. Few if any other regions in the country are as soccer-mad as Miami. But the lack of a Major League Soccer team and the fact that the city was already passed over during the 1994 tournament are factors that weigh against hosting the tournament if the U.S. is awarded the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

"We're trying to bring a critical mass of support on one day -- today," says Mike Sophia, executive director of the Miami Sports Commission, who is leading the bid. He said that the campaign will continue up until December when anywhere from anywhere from 9 to 12 cities, out of 18 finalists, will be named as World Cup venues. Then, of course, the world governing body of soccer, FIFA, will still have to award the U.S. the Cup.

Unlike in 1994, Sophia says Miami is in a prime position to host games because the Marlins will no longer be taking up Sun Life Stadium during the summer months.