ATLANTA — Some restaurant owners in midtown and downtown Atlanta say for them, FIFA was a bit of a flop. They planned for massive amounts of World Cup diners, and it did not pan out.
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At T’s Brunch Bar in Midtown Atlanta, they couldn’t wait for the World Cup. But it may not have been worth the wait—at least not when it came to a crowd of FIFA fans.
“We saw a few, but we were prepared for a massive amount. It just didn’t pan out that much,” Yvette Ramirez said.
Ramirez is the restaurant’s business manager. She says extra staff and extra hours weren’t needed.
Restaurant consultant Lamont Johnson believes most World Cup travelers dined either inside or very close to Atlanta Stadium, or around the FIFA Fan Festival in Centennial Olympic Park. That’s why they never experienced the true taste of Atlanta.
“I feel like a lot of them didn’t venture out and dive into the city like many Atlanta businesses expected them to do,” Johnson said.
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Johnson says some of his clients did well, but they had geography on their side. Their locations were much closer to where all the action was. However, he says many soccer fans weren’t into walking very far, especially in the extreme Georgia summer heat.
“I think a lot of people anticipated this real big, massive increase of customer traffic. It wasn’t what we anticipated. Some did well, but some not so much,” Yvette said.
Ramirez says lessons were learned from the World Cup, but she expects better results from Atlanta’s next really huge event: the city is hosting the 2028 Super Bowl.
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