Getting soccer fans into Atlanta, and getting them around once they arrive, was the subject when the FIFA World Cup 2026 Atlanta Host Committee held its second virtual media panel of the year on Feb. 12. The session centered on mobility and the visitor experience, with particular attention to airport operations, public transit and how crowds will travel through the city.
The panel brought together four officials tied to transportation logistics: Rhonda Allen, deputy general manager of MARTA; Georgia O'Donoghue, vice president of operations at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and chief operating officer of the host committee; William Pate, president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau; and Ricky Smith, general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Chris Raimondi of AMB Sports Entertainment moderated.
A city built around big events
O'Donoghue framed the effort around Atlanta's track record. "Atlanta has a storied history of hosting these major sporting events and doing it well," she said, crediting the region's public-private partnership and its connectivity for putting the city in position for the summer.
Atlanta is set to host eight World Cup matches, including a July 15 semifinal. Teams assigned to the city in December include Cabo Verde, Haiti, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Spain. O'Donoghue said the later release of match dates and times let organizers move ahead on operational planning covering the event footprint and venue operations, mobility and transportation, the fan festival, and safety and security. "We're 123 days out from our first match, and I will tell you we are right where we should be in our planning," she said. The committee is scheduled to submit its final transport and mobility plan at the end of February.
From the runway to the convention district
Pate made the case that Hartsfield-Jackson is ready for visitors from around the world. "Eighty percent of the U.S. population can get to Atlanta in two hours, so we're very accessible," he said. He also described the city as "number two in the country in international," a quote Rough Draft Atlanta completed with the bracketed words "nonstop flights."
He pointed to MARTA as a key advantage for anyone landing at the airport. "You take that train in the airport, and it takes you 20 minutes to be right in the middle of our convention district," Pate said. He added that Atlanta is accustomed to large international and domestic crowds for championship events and will be prepared when fans arrive.
Smith walked through the airport's capacity to handle a surge of travelers and keep their experience safe, and noted that work is underway to expand Concourse D to help absorb the added traffic. "We see the airport as kind of the living room for the city," he said.
Riding MARTA across the region
Allen highlighted MARTA's new "Better Breeze" tap-to-pay system and emphasized the agency's effort to get visitors onto trains to reach attractions such as the High Museum of Art and Buckhead's shopping district. She extended the invitation broadly, naming a trip from the airport to a watch party in Doraville as one example and Decatur and the West End as other possible destinations.
This tournament also differs from earlier marquee events Atlanta has hosted, such as the Super Bowl and the 1996 Olympics: World Cup visitors will have non-match days free to see more of Atlanta and Georgia, whether that means exploring city neighborhoods or making the drive to Savannah.
Reported by Rough Draft Atlanta.
