Atlanta’s growth to become a host of premier major sporting events

In 1996, the city of Atlanta hosted its first major international sporting event as the Summer Olympics introduced the world to the southern city, then known primarily for its ties to the civil rights movement. Fast forward to now, and Atlanta has since hosted two Super Bowls, three NCAA Men’s Final Fours, two College Football Playoff games, one College Football Playoff national championship and 28 consecutive SEC Championship games and there are much more to come.

COPA America, a CFP quarterfinal game, the CFP Championship, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and the World Cup are among the upcoming major sporting events in Atlanta over the next two years and on Tuesday, Katie Kirkpatrick, President and CEO, Metro Atlanta Chamber joined The Steakhouse with Steak Shapiro and Sandra Golden to discuss Atlanta’s emergence as one of the leading cities in the world for hosting sporting events.

“We have the largest sports campus in the United States. Kirkpatrick said, adding that there are about 13,000 hotel rooms within a mile of Mercedes Benz Stadium, State Farm Arena and the Georgia World Congress Center, making events easy to access. in addition to several public transit stations in the region. Kirkpatrick goes on to say that the economic impact that Atlanta has been able to generate over the years has been invaluable and that the estimated numbers of what the World Cup could bring are an example of that.

“The United States will see about five billion dollars coming in and what we’re thinking about and what our economist has looked at is for the eight games in Atlanta, it’s a minimum, but we think that number will increase $500 million to $550 million for the economy of the metro Atlanta, Georgia area,” Kirkpatrick told Shapiro and Golden of the expected boost the World Cup alone could provide. the link above to hear the conversation in full