How Atlanta Became the Unexpected Epicenter of U.S. Soccer

In 2015, Sarah Kate Noftsinger was weighing a marketing role with Major League Soccer’s planned expansion team in Atlanta. She still recalls the reaction from a mentor when she shared the news.

“He looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘It’s career suicide to even think about working in soccer in Atlanta, Georgia. What are you doing?’” Noftsinger tells Front Office Sports.

Georgia has always been a powerhouse in sports—think the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, college championships at the Georgia Dome, and the fierce SEC and ACC loyalties for the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech. But a decade ago, the city’s pro sports scene was in a rough patch. The Thrashers left for Winnipeg in 2011 (marking the NHL’s second exit from Atlanta after the Flames moved to Calgary in 1980). By 2013, the Braves admitted they faced “real challenges” that couldn’t be overcome at their stadium, prompting a move out of downtown. In June 2015, The New York Times ranked Atlanta No. 2 on its list of “The Most Cursed Sports Cities in America.” Even Nelson Rodríguez, MLS EVP of sporting and matchday, admits he was a “hard no” on MLS in Atlanta at first, citing “what pro sports wasn’t doing” there.

Noftsinger, undeterred, flew down for the interview anyway. On her way back to the airport, she got lost—and stumbled upon soccer fields filled with players from “every walk of life.” That moment sealed the deal. She took the job with Atlanta United.

Fast forward ten years, and Noftsinger is now the club’s chief business officer. The city that was once a “hard no” for pro soccer now boasts one of the largest and most passionate fan bases in MLS. And the momentum keeps building. With the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center opening in May, FIFA World Cup matches coming to town this summer, and an NWSL team set to debut in 2028, Atlanta has become the unlikely—and undeniable—heartbeat of U.S. soccer.