ATLANTA – There are 414 days until the 2026 World Cup kicks off in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Host cities across the continent are busy formalizing – and, ideally – executing plans that will help accommodate the expanded 48-team tournament.
On Wednesday in Georgia’s capital, the city’s mayor, Andre Dickens, told a room full of city officials that Atlanta expects to generate over $1 billion in revenue from the World Cup. Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a 75,000-seat NFL domed arena, will host eight 2026 World Cup matches, including a semifinal.
Inside a formal ballroom in the residential and commercial neighborhood of Buckhead, Dickens looked to drum up excitement for the competition. According to Dickens, and citing an analysis by Atlanta’s Chamber of Commerce, the World Cup could bring more than 300,000 unique visitors to a city that is accustomed to hosting many of North America’s biggest sporting and entertainment events.
Atlanta most recently hosted the NFL’s Super Bowl in 2019 and will again be the site for the NFL’s championship game in 2028. Atlanta was home for two matches during the 2024 Copa América, including the opening match between Argentina and Canada. And this past January, the College Football Playoff final was played at Mercedes-Benz.
“We have proven that we can do this,” Dickens said. “Hey, even this summer, we have four Beyoncé concerts back to back. Beyoncé sold out four nights at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.”
“We are going to be ready,” he continued. “We plan to deliver an exciting yet safe and secure event for the fans and for the citizens of this region, for the players and for the (team) staff, as well. Our Office of Emergency Preparedness started planning even before we received word that we were a host city.”
“We’re on schedule,” Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council, told The Athletic. “For us, there’s continuity in the planning. We have the same venues being used. Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the hotels surrounding Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena will be engaged. Centennial Olympic Park for the fan fest. So we’ve got that core campus, which is the same core campus that we use for the CFP Championship and the same one for the Super Bowl.”
Lionel Messi takes a corner kick in Argentina’s Copa América opener vs. Canada in 2024. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
Dickens said that the Atlanta City Council had approved $120 million in revenue bonds to improve transportation and downtown infrastructure improvements. Those include, what Dickens called “critical projects,” as in street resurfacing and sidewalk repairs.
“To be clear, these are not just temporary fixes because we have company coming,” Dickens said. “We needed to do these things anyway. This is part of my vision for a safer, more walkable, enjoyable downtown (Atlanta). We want to bring downtown back and make sure that downtown is very viable. These are permanent improvements that will benefit Atlanta communities for a very long time, even after FIFA has come and gone.”
Along with mass transit and hospitality, security will be a major point of emphasis for each World Cup host city. The near-tragic incidents that took place at the Copa América final last summer in Miami have become a lesson learned for FIFA and U.S. host city governments. Fans were pressed against the Hard Rock Stadium gates for hours under the hot sun as Argentina and Colombia prepared to play in South America’s biggest football match.
Eventually, thousands of fans rushed the stadium gates, causing a stampede and raising questions about the U.S.’s preparedness for a major international football tournament.
In January before the College Football Playoff quarterfinal – the Sugar Bowl – in New Orleans, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a truck into a crowd of people who had gathered on Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring dozens more. The game between the University of Georgia and the University of Notre Dame was postponed for 24 hours.
That incident was mentioned by Atlanta City chief operating officer LaChandra Burks in speaking with The Athletic on Wednesday.
“We’re taking lessons learned (from the Sugar Bowl) in New Orleans recently,” Burks said. “We’ve implemented some new things where we have to be cautious that people are not able to just drive up on our sidewalks and things of that nature. So we’re doing things around that.”
Burks revealed that the city has created a new division within the police department that is responsible for large-scale events. This specialized unit will be deployed during this summer’s Club World Cup, as well. Atlanta will host six matches.
“So from a security perspective, the good thing about Atlanta is that we have hosted so many major events, usually one-day events. But not eight events across 40 days,” Burks said. “Having a seasoned and experienced division now within the Atlanta Police Department, who’s been around for several years as we’ve hosted some of these games, that’s all they are thinking, breathing, working on every day. I think it is going to make another difference for us in Atlanta. We want to make sure that people are safe.”
The downtown campus that surrounds Mercedes-Benz Stadium was buzzing with thousands of fans for the College Football Playoff final. There was an obvious police presence that included plain-clothed officers mingling amongst the crowd. Asked if the federal government will assist with security for the World Cup, Burks said, “So far, it’s solely been on the city. It is our hope.”
Transportation across the nation’s 11 World Cup cities will also be heavily scrutinized before and after the tournament. Atlanta has a notoriously poor record as a commuter city. Traffic can be gridlocked on any given day at any hour, especially around the surrounding areas of downtown.
“The transportation piece is equally as important to us as the public safety piece, to be honest,” said Burks.
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is the city’s transport operator. It includes buses and a mass transit system. According to their website, MARTA clears Atlanta’s road of more than 185,000 cars each day. MARTA has several train stations within walking distance of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
One can expect that both domestic and international tourists will consider renting a car or using ride sharing services to commute during the World Cup. In Atlanta’s case, Burks has one principal goal. “We’ve got to find a way to get more people on MARTA,” she said. “Whether you’re coming to the games or you’re coming to a fan fest or you’re coming to hang out in the city.”
Notably, the College Football Playoff final in Atlanta was the most expensive national championship game ever. The get-in price peaked at $2,208, per Front Office Sports. The game was a sellout. Burks estimated that the price to attend all eight World Cup matches in Atlanta will be $20,000. Robb Pitts, the chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, urged city officials to host viewing parties in order for fans in other municipalities to experience the World Cup.
“(Tickets) aren’t cheap,” said Pitts. “So 99% of the people who voted won’t be able to afford to go. You may have a venue of 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 people in your particular city, and that’s the way to do it. There’s going to be interest in a way to capture that.”
(Top photo: Jason Getz/USA TODAY Sports)