American sports billionaire Arthur Blank said that he hoped that geopolitical tensions would “settle” before next year’s football world cup, opening the way to a successful tournament that will increase sport in the United States.
The preparation of the FIFA World Cup, which will be held in the United States for the second time in June 2026, comes when President Donald Trump’s prices and the aggressive immigration position led certain groups to question the adequacy of the United States to hold the tournament.
Trump also antagonized the co -animators of Mexico and Canada – even threatening to annex them – by accusing them of not having stopped “the activity of the cartel and the influx of fatal drugs” in the United States. The US Travel Association, a sales organization, warned that the slow processing of visas could hinder the success of the male tournament.
But empty, the founder of Home Depot who has become one of the most eminent sports bosses in the United States – having teams in the NFL and Major League Soccer – said that America would be welcoming for visitors and that Trump would be a “positive force” for the tournament.
“I hope, like most people in the world, that the geopolitical scene will settle down and will be a little more stable and a little more predictable than we have,,” Amb Sports + Entertainment, one of the host places of the event, told The Financial Times.
While Trump said the male World Cup will be “the best managed football tournament that the world has ever seen” and an opportunity to present the “United States’ pride and hospitality”, Human Rights Watch has expressed “serious concerns” concerning the administration’s immigration policies.
Blank, who contributed to Joe Biden’s campaigns in 2020 and 2024, said he was “quite certain that the president will be a positive force for the World Cup while we are starting to approach him”.
The magnate is the owner of the Atlanta Falcons NFL franchise and launched the MLS Atlanta United side in 2017. Its teams play at the Mercedes-Benz stadium of 75,000 inhabitants in Atlanta, Georgia, which will host matches at the World Cup and the Club World Cup this month.
The World Cup could stimulate the economy of Georgia of more than $ 500 million, according to the local sales organization Metro Atlanta Chamber. “We want to attract tourism to other parts of the state, not only Atlanta,” said Dan Corso, president of Atlanta Sports Council, which is part of the room.
Blank said the World Cup may have an even more important impact in promoting football in the United States than the 1994 tournament, which contributed to the start of the MLS two years later with 10 teams.
“The change since 1994 in Atlanta was remarkable,” said Dietmar Exler, operations manager at Amb Sports & Entertainment.
MLS went to 30 teams with an average assessment of more than $ 700 million, according to Sportico. He attracted players such as the Argentine star Lionel Messi, who plays for Inter Miami, while the English Premier League generates hundreds of millions of dollars a year in American media rights.
Last year, Blank donated $ 50 million to the first National Training Center for the American Football Federation in Atlanta to further improve coaching standards and facilities.
“The Premier League (English) is obviously the number one world league. MLS is probably six or seven leagues behind it, but that has probably cut this in the last 15 years,” he said.