ATL (reportedly) lands another Super Bowl. What will downtown be then?

Perhaps you missed it in the torrent of frankly more important news around Atlanta lately, but it appears the fourth Super Bowl in city history is on the horizon—in a part of Atlanta experiencing massive, if not fundamental, changes.

The National Football League and Falcons brass haven’t confirmed, but according to a report in Sports Business Journal, the NFL is expected to award the second Super Bowl in Mercedes-Benz Stadium history—Super Bowl LXII in February 2028—to Atlanta when team owners meet here later this month.

Maybe it’s not the World Cup—and certainly not the Centennial Olympic Games. But for anyone who recalls Atlanta hosting Super Bowl LIII in 2019 (or in 1994 and 2000, for that matter), the big game is a really big deal, both economically and in terms of global exposure.

For the 53rd Super Bowl five years ago, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce pegged the city's Super Bowl windfall at $400 million (some argued it was much lower), with bars (allowed to operate until 4 a.m. that week), restaurants, and hotels packed across town. An entire, temporary arena was erected at Atlantic Station for a Run the Jewels/Foo Fighters concert. Downtown streets were electric for a solid week. 

Yeah, a big deal.

Host cities are already set for the next three Super Bowls, those being New Orleans next year, Santa Clara (home of the 49ers, in 2026), and Los Angeles (2027). 

But with several large-scale redevelopment projects channeling billions of investments into downtown Atlanta, does any NFL stadium location stand to change as much between now and 2028?

The Sports Business Journal report notes as much, after pointing out that Atlanta’s last stab at hosting the Super Bowl earned “good reviews” from the legions of sports industry types assembled here in 2019:

“The city is walkable, with ample hotel and hospitality inventory. By 2028, three major hotels and the Centennial Yards mixed-use development—none of which was there in 2019—will have been completed in the immediate vicinity of the stadium. It is a proven host to major events, such as the annual SEC Football Championship and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. The city also recently won the 2031 NCAA Men’s Final Four.” 

But then, a couple of digs:

“For all its considerable strengths, Atlanta is not necessarily an obvious choice. It’s far enough north that winter weather can be a concern—ice storms were a problem at the 2000 game there—and its desirability as a glamour destination is a step down from classic hosts such as Miami, L.A., New Orleans, and now Las Vegas.”

All of which begs a few fun questions:

If the Super Bowl indeed makes its way back to ATL in ’28, how do you hope downtown will have evolved by then?

Or what will downtown actually be, in your humble opinion, if there’s a difference?

And can Atlanta ever be, uh, a “glamour destination,” if we even want that?

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