ESPN’s John Skipper joined the committee that is trying to bring the World Cup to the United States in 2018 or 2022. Skipper, the network’s executive vice president for content, has been among the biggest proponents of expanding soccer broadcasting in the U.S.”His expertise across the company’s array of platforms will greatly serve our ability to communicate the attributes of our bid throughout the rest of the bidding process,” USSF president Sunil Gulati, chairman of the U.S. World Cup bid committee, said Tuesday.

ESPN and ABC, both owned by The Walt Disney Co., will broadcast next year’s World Cup and own rights to the 2014 tournament. England and Spain are seen as the leading contenders for 2018. The U.S., the 1994 World Cup host, is viewed as a top candidate for 2022. FIFA’s executive committee will vote in December 2010.

“We at ESPN are pleased to be a part of the burgeoning interest in soccer in the U.S.,” said Skipper. “There would be no more fitting cap to that growth than to return the sport’s biggest event, the FIFA World Cup, to the USA.”

Sunil Gulati added: “As a broadcast partner of the U.S. Soccer Federation, Major League Soccer and the FIFA World Cup, ESPN is playing an invaluable role in the continued growth in popularity of soccer not just in the United States, but worldwide.

Other U.S. board members include former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, University of Miami president Donna Shalala, men’s national team star Landon Donovan, former women’s team star Mia Hamm, comedian Drew Carey, Washington Post chief executive officer Katharine Weymouth and New England Patriots and Revolution owner Robert Kraft.

Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Netherlands-Belgium, Russia and Spain-Portugal have filed to host both World Cups. Qatar and South Korea bid for 2022 only.

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