James_May-June_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 15
tlanta stepped into
the international
spotlight when it
hosted the 1996
Summer Olympics.
Those Games were, for the most
part, a smashing success and their
impact can be felt three decades
later across the city. Remember
that the Olympic Village was
converted into university housing,
Centennial Olympic Stadium was
converted into the Atlanta Braves’
Turner Field, and Centennial Olympic Park, built over vacant lots and
run-down industrial buildings, became the face of the city’s downtown revitalization efforts.
State, city and local officials
hope this summer’s 2026 FIFA
World Cup can have a similarly
transformative effect on the Metro
Atlanta region as it prepares to host
eight matches. They’ll include a
semifinal, drawing in hundreds of
thousands of visitors and hundreds
of millions more eyeballs from every
continent on earth. As kickoff quickly approaches, they have a message
for the world: “We’re ready.”
Let's all chant “We Ready”
The song ‘We Ready’ by the
late rapper Archie Eversole has become a de facto sporting anthem
for Atlanta teams, particularly
the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta
United, the sibling franchises who
share Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Fans, linked arm in arm, chant the
titular chorus before big games,
hyping themselves up as much
as the team. That refrain might as
well also serve as the unofficial
motto for Atlanta officials, who aren’t just preparing for a handful of
soccer matches, but getting ready
to host the biggest sporting event
on earth.
Atlanta is no stranger to putting on a show. Mercedes-Benz
Stadium’s resume reads like a
who’s who list of the biggest
events in the world, from the
Super Bowl to the Peach Bowl
to every sold-out Taylor Swift
concert in between. But the
World Cup is a different
beast, with eight matches all rolled into one
and an entire month of
festivities. It offers new
challenges, new fanbases, and new opportunities. “When we host
the mega events that we
have at Mercedes-Benz
Stadium, like the Super
Bowl or College Football National Championship, we have
a longstanding familiarity with
those partners and promoters,”
said Tim Zulawski, the president
of Arthur M. Blank Sports and Entertainment. “In the case of FIFA,
you’re bringing in 48 countries
that they’re trying to please. It’s a
new relationship with FIFA as well
as a new relationship with each
of those countries for us. So, you
have a lot of ‘new.’”
What’s not new is the team preparing the city for hosting duties,
headlined by Dan Corso, president
of the Atlanta Sports Council and
the Atlanta World Cup Host Committee. “We are built to host the
world, and we are built to be on the
world stage for these big sporting
M AY /J UNE 2026
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