"This Is a Movement": Atlanta Shows Up for Atlanta City FC
The first thing I saw driving up to the Atlanta City FC brand launch was the line. People waiting to get into the building, all there to welcome Atlanta's newest team. You could feel the anticipation before you even walked through the doors.
There were so many young girls waving “We Play Different” flags. Fans were embracing the colors, the crest, the name, everything about this new team. It has been a long time coming, and now, with the brand officially here, it feels like everything can finally begin.
“When you walk in here today, you just feel this energy, not only in the building, but outside the building. It's unbelievable. It really is,” said Atlanta City FC owner Arthur M. Blank. “It's a tribute to Atlanta. It's a tribute to the opportunities that we have now in women's soccer. We couldn't be more excited about it.”
It was clear how much this moment meant to people. Two hours after the event started, there were still around 1,000 fans waiting to get inside, according to estimates shared at the event.
We've seen this city show up before. Since that first Atlanta United match at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta has filled stadiums, built supporters groups and made soccer part of how this city lives. This has always been a soccer city.
“It kind of tells my story. For me, Atlanta has always been the epicenter of soccer. My first Olympics, in 1996, were here. I played for the Atlanta Beat, I'm a supporter of Atlanta United, and now we're bringing Atlanta City FC here,” said Cindy Parlow Cone, president of U.S. Soccer and former USWNT player. “The National Training Center for U.S. Soccer is also here. I think it's fully cemented now with Atlanta City FC. This is the epicenter of soccer in our country.”
It isn't just at the professional level, either. From youth and high school soccer to the college game, Georgia keeps sending players to the top of the women's game, producing the fourth-most NWSL players in the country according to the league’s rosters this season.
The college game here runs deep, too, from NAIA to Division I. Emory University's women's team, the 2025 NCAA Division III national runner-up, was in the building. Their associate head coach, Cat Whitehill, played for the USWNT and the Atlanta Beat.
“They want to be here. They want to be a part of what this startup is because it is so exciting. I've been talking about it with them, and they have been pumped about this event. They're so excited that now they'll be able to go to these games while they're here,” said Whitehill. “We can do team events, but they can also go individually. I think that's really neat for them, to watch and have people to look up to. A lot of our players may not get to play professionally, but they can always dream. They can watch and they can support.”
“We can set the kind of role model that I think will be really important for young people. Whether or not they all become professional soccer players is really not important,” said Blank. “What is important is that they end up becoming the best they can be for themselves personally, for their families, for their education and for their lives.”
Women’s soccer history runs deep here.
In the Summer Olympic Games in 1996, 76,489 fans attended the women's soccer gold medal final at Sanford Stadium in Athens. The USWNT defeated China 2-1 to win the first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's soccer. At the time, this attendance set a world record for the largest crowd ever recorded for a women's sporting event.
Right here in Georgia 30 years later, we created another historic moment for women’s soccer. For the first time ever, the University of Georgia women’s soccer team took the field at Sanford Stadium in a 6-0 win over James Madison on August 20 in front of 25,433 fans, setting an NCAA attendance record for a men’s or women’s college soccer match. It was the first soccer match at the historic venue since the 1996 Olympics.
The passion has always been here. Those roots have always been in place.
As Arthur Blank said to the fans at the brand launch, Atlanta can't truly be the epicenter of soccer without a women's professional team.
Now, that team is officially here. To quote Cindy Parlow Cone: “This isn't just a moment. This is a movement.”
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