under 50 million viewers between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m. ET,

LONDON -- A bigger World Cup in 2026 will boost North Americas chances of hosting the tournament, the president of the CONCACAF region told The Associated Press.FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this week raised the prospect of adding another 16 teams to make it a 48-team tournament, a move that would reduce the pool of countries with sufficient infrastructure.From a 2026 perspective, pick a number (of finalists) and North American can handle it, Victor Montagliani, president of the North and Central America and Caribbean soccer confederation, said Tuesday in an interview. A CONCACAF bid would be strong regardless of what number we finally set on.The World Cup was last staged in the CONCACAF region by the United States in 1994. The Americans are eager to get another shot at hosting in 2026, potentially linking up with neighbors Canada and Mexico.Is there an opportunity to combine the three countries? Perhaps. We dont know that yet, said Montagliani, a FIFA vice president. There have been zero formal discussions. We are not there yet.After the troubled bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, which sparked years of corruption investigations, FIFA will be hoping for a smoother vote for 2026. Originally earmarked for 2017, the decision by the FIFA membership is now not due until 2020.With Africa, South America, Europe and Asia hosting the World Cups between 2010 and 2022, it had been widely accepted that it should be North Americas turn for the first time since 1994.FIFAs statues currently prevent consecutive World Cups being staged on the same continent, but China could yet seek to follow 2022 host Qatar. Chinese conglomerate Wanda signed up as a top-tier FIFA sponsor in March saying it wanted to be better placed to help decide where future editions of the World Cup are awarded.There has to be some sort of rotation or else you look what is happening with the Olympics, Montagliani said, referring to Tokyo hosting the 2020 Olympics between the 2018 and 2022 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Beijing.I dont think its a good thing that it keeps on going to one area. Its not a World Cup that belongs in one region. So I think so sort of rotation needs to occur because the World Cup belongs to the world and we need to respect that.Montagliani applauded Infantino for thinking outside the box by floating the idea of a 48-team World Cup.There are traditionalists in the game who I think, if it was up to them, would still have a 16-team World Cup, Montagliani said in an interview in London. The reality is that the World Cup is not just an economic beast, but a product that inspires hope for countries. So if we can improve it, make it bigger without losing its romanticism, why not?Before FIFA settles on a new format, Montagliani is sure there will be an exhaustive process of review and cost benefit analysis. The format and bidding process will begin to be discussed next week when Infantino chairs a FIFA Council meeting in Zurich.In outlining one potential format earlier this week, Infantino said, you could have a tournament in which the 16 best teams advance to a group stage and the other 16 will came out of a `playoff ahead of the group stage, and the World Cup could end up with 48 teams.The more pressing issues for FIFA center on the 2018 World Cup with the spotlight increasingly on Russia over racism and doping in sport, and the involvement in the war in Syria.Montagliani sees no need to strip Russia of the World Cup.Its a very delicate situation because we are a sport, he said. You try to as much as possible stay out of the geopolitics of the world because its a just a dangerous thing (to mix) and so it is a bit of walking a tightrope.The contentious dual votes on the 2018 and 2022 World Cups sparked years of criminal investigations and FIFA inquiries.FIFA said there was not sufficient evidence to warrant removing their countrys hosting rights. But before being banned and ousted from the FIFA presidency, Sepp Blatter said last year that American authorities would not have indicted more than 40 people in its soccer investigation had it not been for the 2010 vote outcome.To Montagliani it was the tipping point, providing an opportunity to clean the game.In some regards maybe the best thing that happened in football was Russia and Qatar, Montagliani said in a speech Wednesday at the Leaders sports business conference in London.---Rob Harris is at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports Abdel Nader Jersey .ca! Kerry, Two nights after the Scott-Eriksson incident in Buffalo, the Bruins returned home to play San Jose. In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head. Shawn Kemp Jersey . Jon Montgomerys gold medal in skeleton at the Whistler Sliding Centre and his subsequent auctioning off of a pitcher of beer in the village square elevated him to folk-hero status. https://www.thunderrookiesshop.com/Abdel-Nader-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations. Custom Oklahoma City Thunder Jerseys . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night. Dennis Schroder Thunder Jersey . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. NEW YORK -- The Chicago Cubs curse-breaking victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 reached 40 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game since 1991.The Nielsen company said the World Series as a whole averaged 23.4 million viewers. That was the most popular World Series since another curse-breaking year, when the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004 to end a long drought.The victory early Thursday marked the teams first World Series championship since 1908. The Cubs did it in thrilling fashion, topping the Indians 8-7 in 10 innings for their third straight victory.The game peaked at just under 50 million viewers between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m. ET, an extraordinary number given that it was so late for viewers on the East Coast.It was another epic Game 7, between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves in 1991, that reached 50.3 million viewers, Nielsen said.Viewers generally become morre interested in World Series the longer it goes.ddddddddddddBut the ratings for this years seventh game showed an explosion in interest: no other individual game reached more than 23.6 million viewers. The most recent World Series Game 7, between San Francisco and Kansas City in 2014, reached 25.4 million viewers.Foxs rivals sensed trouble ahead of time. NBC had announced Wednesday that it was pulling all of its original series from Wednesday nights schedule and showing reruns instead. Things could have been worse for ABC, which televised the annual Country Music Association Awards. But its audience of 12.6 million viewers was only a million off from 2015.Last years World Series between the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets, which lasted five games, averaged 14.7 million viewers per game. ' ' '