Dan Corso and John Kristick Present to House Economic Development & Tourism Committee

Yesterday, Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council and John Kristick, former Executive Director of the United Bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, presented to the House Economic Development & Tourism Committee.

Corso gave a brief overview of the Atlanta Sports Council and Atlanta’s bidding process to be selected as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Kristick successfully led the United Bid of the United States, Canada and Mexico for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He laid out the impressive scale of the tournament historically: 1.3 billion people watched the 2018 FIFA World Cup final compared to approximately 130 million watching the Super Bowl earlier this year. And the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest tournament yet with 48 teams and 80 matches, 60 of which will be played in the United States. The tournament will be broadcast to over 200 territories around the world.

There are 17 U.S. cities vying to be one of 10 cities to host matches. Atlanta is bidding to be one of those host cities which could result in hosting five or more matches including a coveted semi-final game.

Atlanta is also planning to bid to host the International Broadcast Center (IBC), which is the central hub of all broadcasting for the tournament and a multiple-month home base for approximately 14,000 journalists from every country. 

Atlanta has strong selling points in this competitive bid process including Mercedes-Benz Stadium, new training facilities, the success of Atlanta United, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the Georgia World Congress Center, and Centennial Olympic Park. Another point in Atlanta’s favor is our history of hosting major sporting events, like the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, multiple Super Bowls, and international soccer matches.

Final selection for the host cities will be in early 2021.