#4 Atlanta
▶ RÉSUMÉ: Annual events include college football’s Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (since 1968) and Cricket Celebration Bowl (2015); SEC football championship game (1994-2031); PGA Tour The Tour Championship (2004); ATP Truist Atlanta Open (2010); and NASCAR Ambetter Health 400 (1960) and Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart (2021). Other recent events: 2018 and 2025 CFP National Championship Game; 2018 MLS All-Star Game; Super Bowl LIII; 2019 USA Swimming Toyota U.S. Open; 2020 National Sports Forum; 2021 NBA All-Star Game; 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers; 2024 Copa América; and NCAA Division I Men’s (2024) and Women’s (2022 and 2026) Swimming and Diving Championships.
▶ RECENT WINS: Next month’s 2024 SheBelieves Cup presented by Visa semifinals; 2025 Division I Men’s Basketball Regional; 2025 MLB All-Star Game and Draft; and 2026 FIFA World Cup (eight matches, including a semifinal.)
▶ VENUES: The city’s venue portfolio, among the best in sports, includes Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Truist Park (both opened in 2017); State Farm Arena (a $192.5 million renovation wrapped up in 2018); Gateway Center Arena at College Park, home of the WNBA Atlanta Dream and NBA G League College Park Skyhawks (2019); and Georgia Tech’s 1,900-seat McAuley Aquatic Center, which was built for the 1996 Summer Olympics and has hosted many NCAA and ACC swimming and diving championships. Additionally, the Georgia World Congress Center (the world’s largest LEEDcertified convention center) and the Georgia International Convention Center combine for 2 million square feet of exhibit space, trailing only Las Vegas, Chicago and Orlando for the most such space in a city.
▶ LOOKING AHEAD: The city with the busiest airport in the U.S. also boasts a current hotel construction pipeline of 151 projects, or 18,730 rooms (only Dallas has more ongoing projects), according to Lodging Econometrics. The 976-room Signia by Hilton, owned by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, opened in January next to Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The hotel’s 7,888-square-foot ballroom is the largest in Georgia, and there are now 13,000 hotel rooms within a mile of the stadium’s campus. Additionally, the U.S. Soccer Federation’s headquarters and 200-acre training center for all 27 of its men’s and women’s national teams is being built about 20 miles from downtown after Atlanta Falcons and United owner Arthur M. Blank announced a $50 million contribution for the project last fall. USSF is relocating from Chicago after more than two decades.
▶ STAY AND PLAY: The 22-acre Centennial Olympic Park, which celebrates the city’s Summer Games legacy, and the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame are located downtown.