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Brad Pitt Is Going To Help Bring the World Cup Back to the U.S.

He may not be ranked in the Power Grid, but that doesn’t mean Brad Pitt doesn’t have some influence in the world of athletics. After all, you have to give something to the megastar that goes beyond his upcoming role as Billy Beane in the 2011 movie version of Michael Lewis’ Moneyball. In fact, it appears that Mr. Pitt is a bit of a soccer fan, and he’s now signed up to help bring the World Cup back to America.

Pitt announced Wednesday that he accepted an invitation to join several other big names on the official committee that is attempting to secure the United States as the host for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. He joins former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and comedian Drew Carey on the group. And now, for the Pitt quote you’ll see everywhere: “Soccer is a truly global sport and the opportunity to join the effort to have the US host the world’s greatest sporting event again is a great honor.”

The last – and only – time the U.S. hosted the World Cup was in 1994, and it saw Brazil take its fourth championship with a 3-2 win. The home team barely made it into the round of 16, where it was defeated by the eventual tournament victors. American facilities have come a long way since 1994, and the nine host sites back then were all large (American) football stadiums – helping to propel the Cup to be the widest attended ever. Even though there have been great soccer-only facilities built in the States since ’94, it’d be a massive upset if games weren’t positioned to be held at 100,000 seat palaces like Cowboys Stadium over the intimate, 27,000 capacity Home Depot Centers of the continent.

It may be promises of these buildings, not celebrities, that get the Cup back to the U.S. Still, hats off to Pitt for joining the cause.