Miami heat

A weekend away in Miami awaits with the family. We often drive across alligator alley and enjoy the aura Miami oozes from the more pedestrian pace of where we live on the Gulf Coast. We are booked into our favourite hotel and restaurant and have plans in case it rains, which is in the forecast.

We usually do this trip post school/ busy work period about a month later but hotel prices during the World Cup are extortionate, even although there are suspicions that large blocks of rooms that have been booked out will come back onto the market due to a very slow take up of tickets.

Miami might be different to a lot of American cities as there is much more interest in the tournament due to the large Latino population. If you can believe FIFA and the American administration – what a double act they are – then ticket sales and hotel bookings are apparently outperforming many World Cup host markets, but concerns still remain.

Unofficial numbers have unsurprisingly Dallas, Miami and the three Mexican host cities as having sold the most seat tickets.

Heat and the famed afternoon thunderstorms where sports games can be delayed and stadiums emptied due to lightning threats will no doubt be a factor in watching a game in Miami. The canopy roof that was added to the Hard Rock Stadium in 2017 sits on top of it like an umbrella so rain and sun still gets inside and the structure is very susceptible to lightning strikes.

7 World Cup games are due to be played in Miami including four group games which will feature Uruguay, Colombia and Brazil’s match against Scotland. Bring your kilts and factor 100, laddies.