The Hoofball Association of the Equestrian States presents
RUNNER CUP III
OFFICIAL HOST BID
I. Introduction
First appearing in the Baptism of Fire prior to World Cup 58, the Equestrian States has competed in every World Cup since, as well as participating in six Cups of Harmony. For a long time, the Equestrians did not have much success in the World Cup, failing in its first six attempts at qualification and coming up one goal short in the playoffs on three occasions until finally qualifying for the 64th World Cup. Over the course of the next four cycles, the Ponies (as the Equestrian States national team is known throughout the multiverse) quickly rose through the rankings, peaking at 15th following a second round appearance at World Cup 67. However, the last two years have not been kind to the Equestrians, as bad officiating and bad luck have conspired to send the Ponies packing after the playoff stage two more times, leading some particularly superstitious supporters to believe that the team is cursed to always fall short at that final hurdle. Whether the cause of the Ponies' woes is a curse or merely bad luck at the worst possible time, the Hoofball Association decided enough was enough and pressured long-time manager Twilight Striker to resign following the team's latest playoff defeat. The Equestrian States still boasts an extremely talented hoofball team, but it's one that's in transition and under new management, and the unrest in the HA ultimately cost the Ponies a spot in the Cup of Harmony, the first time the Equestrians failed to qualify for either the consolation tournament or the World Cup finals since their debut cycle.
With the national team confirmed to be participating in the Runner Cup and their bid for the Cup of Harmony unsuccessful, the Hoofball Association is very much interested in bringing international competition to the Equestrian States, even if it's far from the level of play that supporters have grown accustomed to. Should the Runner Cup hosting rights be awarded to the Equestrian States, it's likely the HA would use the tournament as an opportunity to give lesser-known venues throughout the country some much-desired international attention. However, for the later rounds of the competition, internationally-recognized cathedrals of hoofball like Royal Equestria Stadium, Diamond Park, and Elements Stadium would see use as their world-class facilities would be needed to comfortably hold the expected local and international crowds. Rumors also suggest that one or two stadiums in the relatively nearby Crystal Empire might also see use during the tournament should more venues be required to accommodate a larger tournament field.
II. Format
With signups currently at 30 teams, a tournament field of around 32-48 seems most likely at this point. Should the number of participants fall within that range, this bid would employ a traditional group stage (single round robin) held in stadiums throughout the Equestrian States.
32-Team Format: 8 groups of 4, top two teams in each group advance to Round of 16
36-Team Format: 6 groups of 6, top two teams in each group and top two 3rd-place teams advance to Round of 16, remaining four 3rd-place finishers drawn into a seeded playoff to determine final two berths in Round of 16
40-Team Format: 8 groups of 5, top two teams in each group advance to Round of 16
48-Team Format: 8 groups of 6, top two teams in each group advance to Round of 16
Should signups exceed 48 or finish at another workable number, alternate formats may be considered and brought up for discussion in this thread, though our preference is to use one of the four formats proposed above. Regardless of group stage format, this bid will employ a standard single-elimination knockout stage, with a third-place match being contested prior to the final.
The tiebreakers used will be: Points, H2H Points, H2H Goal Difference, Overall Goal Difference, H2H Goals For, Overall Goals For, Cointoss* (in that order).
* - The winner of the toss would be decided OOCly by a playoff scorinated between the tied teams with rank and RP bonus being taken into account for the scorination.
III. Scorination & RP Bonus
If chosen, this bid will use the SQIS formula on xkoranate.
A generous and cumulative bonus will be used with RP bonuses being awarded based on quality, which takes precedence over quantity. Originality and initiative will also be rewarded, as will interaction and astute information usage in RPs. Don't expect to get much of a bonus if your opponent's posted a roster and you don't make any use of it in your match report RP.
IV. Experience
The user behind the Equestrian States is a veteran host and has been an active member of the NS Sports community since January 2012. Most of the user's hosting experience comes from association football (soccer) tournaments, most notably the 67th World Cup and 57th Cup of Harmony alongside Cassadaigua. Other football tournaments the user has hosted include the 29th Di Bradini Cup (aka U-21 World Cup 50), Market Cup VI, and all four editions of the Equestria Cup (a semi-regional "hoofball" competition for so-called "pony" nations). Elsewhere on NS Sports, the user is also a regular participant in the World Baseball Classic, World Cup of Hockey, and the World Bowl, where the user is currently serving his first term as President of the World Bowl Assembly and is responsible for calculating that tournament's rankings. The user's non-football hosting résumé includes the 25th and 29th World Baseball Classics, 21st World Cup of Hockey, and the 5th Quidditch World Cup.
Feel free to ask any questions!
