by
On Jan. 16, 150 days out from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Atlanta Host Committee held its monthly press conference. The virtual press conference provides journalists with updates on the city’s preparations ahead of the global soccer event taking place this summer in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Speakers included Dietmar Exler, Chief Operating Officer of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Dan Corso, President of the Atlanta World Cup Host Committee and Atlanta Sports Council, and Adam Fullerton, Vice President of Stadium Operations for Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The panel opened with statements from each speaker on the progress of the city’s preparations, followed by a question-and-answer period for journalists.
Exler remarked on Atlanta’s rise as a major soccer city over the last 15 years. Atlanta announced it was getting a professional soccer team in 2014, with Atlanta United debuting at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2017. The team won the MLS Cup Championship a year later.
In 2022, FIFA named Atlanta as a 2026 World Cup host city — one of two U.S. cities to host both the World Cup and the Olympics. This summer, teams from future World Cup host countries, Spain and Morocco (2030) and Saudi Arabia (2034), will compete in Atlanta.
“Atlanta is truly the center of soccer in the United States,” Exler said. “We are all set to have tremendous events in Atlanta. The stadium is ready, and the city is ready.”
“We get the civic and the business communities together and we bring the operational expertise from those organizations and their staff, and we pool them together into our host committee,” he said. “So, whether it’s the Atlanta Sports Council staff, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium staff or others, all of us work very closely together.”
Used with permission. Follow RoughDraft Atlanta here.
