Atlanta remains a focal point in sports. And it’s going to take center stage throughout 2025.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium hosted two playoff games to begin 2025, including Monday’s national championship between two seismic brands, Ohio State and Notre Dame.
“It’s really cool,” president of the Atlanta Sports Council Dan Corso told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s a success and honor to be the first city to host (the College Football Playoff national championship) twice, Atlanta having also hosted in 2018. When CFP reached out in the summer of 2022 and said it’d like to look at 2025, we all went to work very quickly and made it happen.”
The Buckeyes defeated the Fighting Irish 34-23, completing the first 12-team playoff, with nearly 78,000 announced in attendance — the second largest crowd for a CFP title game. Despite the Midwesterners bringing their weather with them, MBS and the surrounding area had a lively environment. Downtown Atlanta was vibrant with fan enthusiasm despite no southern team being in sight.
“If you could pick a city and sport that goes well together, it’s football — particularly college football — and Atlanta go hand-in-hand,” Corso said. “It’s part of our culture here, part of our DNA. … To have a matchup like Ohio State and Notre Dame, you have these large fan bases spread out all over the country coming in to experience the game, but they’ve also experienced Atlanta. Some of those might be for the first time, or it’d been a long time. So it’s been a great opportunity to showcase what our community has to offer.”
Pregame projections estimated roughly a $75 million economic impact from the event, Corso said, but the data needed to be completed. Ticket prices exceeded $3,000 in the 24 hours leading into the matchup. Corso said the game had the largest demand the CFP had experienced in the past “seven or eight championships.”
That’s just the beginning of what’s going to be a busy year in this city. Atlanta continues to become a center of the sports sphere. Whether it’s football, basketball, soccer or baseball, there are major events coming to town throughout the coming months.
“It’s a great lineup for the whole calendar,” Corso said. “In March, we’ll have the NCAA men’s basketball tournament coming to State Farm Arena with the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight round. Then we’ve got (FIFA) Club World Cup this summer. Then the MLB All-Star game this summer up at The Battery (Atlanta). So for the first seven months of the year, we’re jam-packed.
“I say this often, and I believe it wholeheartedly: There’s not a city in America that can do that many large-scale sporting events within seven months like Atlanta. There’s not another city that can do that.”
The basketball tournament will draw out-of-region fans, while the FIFA Club World Cup puts more international attention on the city. The Midsummer Classic’s return has been highly anticipated since MLB opted to relocate the game from Atlanta in 2021 because of voting laws. This will be Truist Park’s first time hosting the event and Atlanta’s first MLB All-Star game since 2000.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@
