Fulton County outlines World Cup coordination, seeks $1M for visitor activation

Fulton County's external‑affairs team presented an overview on Jan. 7 of preparations related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will feature multiple matches in the Atlanta region. The county framed its role as a public‑safety and promotion partner and outlined coordination with local cities, emergency management, the sheriff and police departments, and airport officials.

Key points: External Affairs said roughly 300,000 visitors are expected to transit through the region and the county has applied for federal Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) funds to offset security and public‑safety costs. The department also presented conceptual visitor‑activation ideas (airport advertising, transit ads, a mobile events calendar) and asked commissioners to consider a $1,000,000 advertising allotment to promote Fulton County destinations to incoming fans and visitors.

Funding and partnerships: The presentation noted that any county marketing dollars could be leveraged alongside host‑committee and private‑sponsor activity and that some federal grant dollars would be targeted specifically to public‑safety overtime and related costs. Commissioners asked staff to refine how the county's proposed investment would be spent and whether partnership investments (host committee, Showcase Atlanta, city convention bureaus) could improve leverage and increase return on county dollars.

Next steps: External Affairs will return with a more detailed plan tying the $1M request to partner commitments and measurable outreach goals; the county manager said managers will include a proposal for consideration in the two‑week budget follow‑up if the board wishes.