As hundreds of thousands of soccer fans from around the world flock to Atlanta for the World Cup next summer, State Farm Arena wants in on the action.
The arena is launching a concert series it calls Summer Kickoff ATL, which will run between June and July of next year, according to a Wednesday press release. A lineup and specific dates have yet to be determined, though artists have already expressed interest in being a part of the event, said Andrew Saltzman, State Farm Arena’s president of business enterprise and chief commercial officer.
“When you look back and think about what the summer of 2026 did for the city of Atlanta, we want State Farm Arena to be seen as an epicenter of entertainment,” Saltzman said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Atlanta is one of 16 cities across the U.S., Mexico and Canada slated to host matches for the 2026 World Cup. Eight matches will be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium between June 11 and July 19.
Next to the Centennial Olympic Games in 1996, hosting the eight World Cup matches is said to be the second-most important sporting event in Atlanta’s history. The matches are projected to have an economic impact of $503.2 million from just out-of-state visitors, according to a study produced by Jerry D. Parrish for the Metro Atlanta Chamber, who described the projections as conservative. Each match will be like hosting a Super Bowl. The study estimates the matches will attract about 520,000 spectators in total, about 225,000 of which will come from out of state.
State Farm Arena has a history of hosting concerts ahead of major sporting events. Earlier this year, the arena hosted a two-day concert series dubbed AT&T Playoff Playlist Live as part of College Football Playoff National Championship weekend. Gucci Mane, Lil Wayne and Quavo were among the performers. In 2019, ahead of Super Bowl LIII, the venue held a three-day festival with Bruno Mars, Ludacris and Aerosmith as headliners. The series of shows earned more than $10 million in revenue and resulted in more than 38,000 tickets sold, according to venue sources from the time.
The arena is adjacent to Mercedes-Benz Stadium and other major developments under construction in downtown, such as Centennial Yards and South Downtown. This presents opportunities, Saltzman said.
“The learnings are: this works and makes sense. That’s why we’re investing in this opportunity and will continue to as mega events come in,” Saltzman said.
Now, it’s a matter of finding the right entertainment options that appeal to a broad amount of people, Saltzman said. The countries represented in the eight matches won’t be determined until September.
“What we’ve realized is when guests are coming to town, it’s critical that they’re entertained,” Saltzman said. “Music is that common thread.”
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