LIZ FARMER
Daily Record Business Writer
July 23, 2009 5:20 PM
Chelsea Football Club and AC Milan aren’t the only ones with something to prove Friday.
In the highest-profile soccer match the city’s ever hosted, Baltimore has a chance to show to the world it can be a soccer town, and fans and businesses are uniting to get that message across.
“We want to make sure that when they go away from Baltimore, they’re going to remember this city for a long time,” said Steven Jones, the brew master at the Pratt Street Ale House, one of two designated Chelsea FC bars downtown.
“A game of this stature being in Baltimore is such a big thing,” added Jones, who moved here from Coventry, England, nearly 10 years ago. “We’re the ambassadors for the city.”
Jordan Bazant, a partner at New York-based The Agency Sports Management, said those “in the know” already consider Baltimore an elite sports town. But the event and broadcast on ESPN sends that message worldwide.
“It’s almost like its coming-out party in some ways, but it’s already been out,” Bazant said. “It’s proving what people are assuming — that it’s a phenomenal market for world-class soccer and just bringing it to people’s forefront.”
And that begins by going all-out to make the thousands of soccer fans traveling to Baltimore for the World Football Challenge exhibition game at M&T Bank Stadium feel like they’re at home.
Daily Record Business Writer
July 23, 2009 5:20 PM
Chelsea Football Club and AC Milan aren’t the only ones with something to prove Friday.
In the highest-profile soccer match the city’s ever hosted, Baltimore has a chance to show to the world it can be a soccer town, and fans and businesses are uniting to get that message across.
“We want to make sure that when they go away from Baltimore, they’re going to remember this city for a long time,” said Steven Jones, the brew master at the Pratt Street Ale House, one of two designated Chelsea FC bars downtown.
“A game of this stature being in Baltimore is such a big thing,” added Jones, who moved here from Coventry, England, nearly 10 years ago. “We’re the ambassadors for the city.”
Jordan Bazant, a partner at New York-based The Agency Sports Management, said those “in the know” already consider Baltimore an elite sports town. But the event and broadcast on ESPN sends that message worldwide.
“It’s almost like its coming-out party in some ways, but it’s already been out,” Bazant said. “It’s proving what people are assuming — that it’s a phenomenal market for world-class soccer and just bringing it to people’s forefront.”
And that begins by going all-out to make the thousands of soccer fans traveling to Baltimore for the World Football Challenge exhibition game at M&T Bank Stadium feel like they’re at home.