Blank Built it and the World is Coming

Were it not for Arthur Blank, the 2026 men’s World Cup soccer tournament likely would have bypassed Atlanta.

He conceived the Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the moment Atlanta is now experiencing.

As documentary filmmaker David Lewis tells the story: “In 2016, when I started ‘Rising Up’ — my film about the stadium and the West Side — Arthur Blank said repeatedly that the stadium was designed so that it could meet FIFA specifications. That meant building a stadium with a wider pitch than either an MLS or NFL team needed. There was no World Cup on the horizon, Atlanta United didn’t exist, and the stadium location was nothing but a field of dirt, but he was thinking ahead and thinking big just in case a World Cup came to the U.S.”

For the World Cup, the Benz has been renamed the “Atlanta Stadium” by FIFA (in French, the Federation Internationale de Football Association), the overseer of international soccer, because the automaker is not an authorized sponsor.

Atlanta will host eight games: Five in the initial group stage — beginning with Spain vs. Cabo Verde at noon on June 15 — and then one each in the rounds of 32 and 16, and semifinals.

The downtown stadium, which cost $1.6 billion to construct ($1.2 billion of which came from Blank and private investors,) opened in August 2017. Beneath its camera lens-like retractable roof, the seating capacity of about 72,000 can reach 73,000-plus when standing room is included.

FIFA requires that stadiums accommodate 80,000 for a championship final and 60,000 for a semifinal. The July 19 final will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., which has a listed capacity of 82,500.

The stadium’s field measures 115 yards in length and 75 yards in width (105 meters by 68.5 meters), easily meeting FIFA’s criteria for hosting a World Cup game.

The regular playing surface at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium is an artificial turf, but to meet FIFA requirements, a grass field was installed earlier this year and carefully tended, even as Atlanta United played several games on the grass.

Because of concerns about the heat in June and July, there will be cooling breaks during each half of World Cup games — yes, including at the indoor, climate-controlled home of Atlanta United and the Atlanta Falcons.

Fans from outside Atlanta may be surprised at some of the concession prices. Just as they are for Atlanta United and Falcons games, soft drinks will remain $2 (with free refills) and the same $2 will buy a hot dog, popcorn or pretzel.

Blank told The Athletic (owned by the New York Times): “People feel welcome here. There’s never been price gouging here. We want people to feel like this is their home, safe and secure, embraced, loved and respected. Those things are not negotiable. It’s the same for the World Cup as it is for the Super Bowl. It never got past the first discussion with FIFA because we said it is a given, this is who we are. We have to make fans feel treasured and appreciated.”

Atlanta is “very sensitive” to the impact of dynamic pricing and secondary markets on the cost of attending a World Cup game, “FIFA sets the ticket pricing,” Blank told the sports journalism website. “As for what happens to the ticket pricing after that, we have no control over it. I think 104 matches are all going to be sold out. I know the eight in our stadium will be sold out completely.”

The 83-year-old Blank, a co-founder of Home Depot (he retired from the company in 2001) is reported by Forbes to have a net worth of more than $10 billion. “Uncle Arthur,” as he sometimes is referred to by Atlanta United fans, became interested in soccer as two of his children played in youth leagues. Blank is chairman of AMB Sports & Entertainment, the family business, which includes Atlanta United and the Falcons. AMB has secured the rights for a National Women’s Soccer League franchise in Atlanta. The as-yet unnamed team is set to begin play in 2028.

Blank also has made a major investment in soccer at the national level. He contributed $50 million toward construction of the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center, a $250 million facility that opened in May south of Atlanta in Fayetteville. That project makes Atlanta the hub for not only the U.S. men’s and women’s senior national teams, but all of the U.S. Soccer Federation’s teams and programs.