July 10th, 2017

The Honorable Lenny Curry

Mayors Office
City Hall at St. James Building
117 W. Duval Street
Suite 400
Jacksonville, FL 32202

Dear Mayor Curry,

I am writing to you following a major announcement made on July 6th concerning the official
launch of the Bid Campaign to stage the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada,
and Mexico.

The coming together of the United States Soccer Federation, the Canadian Soccer Association,
and the Football Federation of Mexico to launch the United Bid Committee is a landmark event,
as we embark on the first-ever united North American joint bid to host the worlds biggest, most
televised, most loved sporting event. In 2026, it will be contested by a record 48 nations. It will
be the most ambitious staging of the FIFA World Cup to date, with 80 matches played over a
30-day period.

Our bid campaign is unique. Importantly, FIFA has approved an expedited process that requires
our formal bid submission be made on March 16, 2018 just over eight months from now. FIFA
will then make its decision on awarding the hosting rights in June 2018 at its annual FIFA
Congress. We sought and welcomed this expedited process, in order to best position our bid for
success and avoid a prolonged process which uses up valuable time and resources.

FIFAs decision in June rests on our bid meeting all its requirements. We must meet these,
because if FIFAs Congress does not select a bid in June, then it will carry out a second phase of
bidding open to the rest of the world. The United States, Canada, and Mexico would not be
allowed to take part in that process.

The United Bid Committee will be based in New York City, with offices in Ottawa and Mexico
City. We will now embark upon the work of compiling a world class bid that harnesses the
immense social, cultural, and economic power of our continent to ensure that North America can
deliver a 21st century vision of soccers greatest event. It will be a vision the world can share.

The United Bid campaign of Canada, Mexico, and United States requires a team effort from all
cities that hope to take part in the bid, as well as the federal governments of our countries, who
have each expressed to us their positive support of this bid.

We have put professional leadership in place to manage the bid operation, led by people who
understand what needs to be accomplished. Our bid will utilize the lessons learned from the
United States previous bid and our joint track records of hosting international events, while
taking a big step forward to anticipate a future landscape that is still a decade ahead of us.

The continued growth of soccer in North America means that we anticipate a high degree of
interest from major cities seeking to be part of the final bid submission. We believe Jacksonville
is a strong candidate for participation in this process, given your support of soccer, stadium
facilities, and the related tourism infrastructure you already have in place. As such, we will be
making informal contact with the stadium and sports commission contacts in your city in the
coming days, but we wanted first to make you aware of this significant opportunity, so
Jacksonville can best present itself as a participant in this process. We hope that you wont
hesitate to go ahead and begin coordinating with your stadium and sports commission.

A cornerstone of our bid will be the reliance on existing infrastructure in our great cities. This
will confer considerable benefits to the cities that become venues, including a measurable uplift
in economic activity, increased civic pride, and an opportunity to showcase the best of
Jacksonville to the worlds media.

We plan to send you more detailed guidelines in the next month, setting out how Jacksonville
can participate formally in the bid process. The United Bid Committee will provide all of the
expertise and support possible to assist your city as the process goes forward, including visits,
detailed guidelines, and organized information sessions.

Prior to our releasing the formal bid guidelines, please let us know if there is a specific point
person you wish for us to use as the primary contact in Jacksonville.

Thanks very much in advance for your attention to this matter. We hope to work closely with
you and your city to achieve our goal of winning the right to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Yours sincerely,

Sunil Gulati
Chairman, 2026 United Bid Committee for Canada, Mexico and United States
President, United States Soccer Federation

CC: John Kristick, Executive Director, 2026 United Bid Committee

Jim Brown, Managing Director, 2026 United Bid Committee