Mayor Andre Dickens delivered opening remarks at the Atlanta Global Sports and Business Summit. (Marlon Hyde/WABE)
While Spain’s national team finished with a zero-to-zero draw in its first match of the World Cup, economic leaders are looking to score off the pitch.
The Spanish national football team, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Spain–U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Embassy of Spain in the United States came together Monday for the Spain–Atlanta Global Sports & Business Summit.
The 2026 World Cup is not only providing a moment for fans to come together, but also for economic leaders to build stronger ties.
“This is an opportunity to promote tourism,” said Katie Kirkpatrick, who leads the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “This is an opportunity to promote conventions, but most importantly, this is an opportunity to build networks for business investment and foreign direct investment right here to Metro Atlanta.”
The summit featured panel discussions on the business of sports and the advantages of strengthening international partnerships.
Spain and Georgia already have a strong trade relationship. Georgia exports to Spain include civilian aircraft, turbojets, kraft paper and paperboard.
Leaders here, like Verónica Maldonado-Torres, president and CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, hope to deepen its economic ties following the tournament.
“We do have a lot of Spanish companies here, and I think we’re going to see a lot more of that growth opportunity from restaurants to real estate and construction to service businesses and technology,” said Maldonado-Torres.
“We just had a chance to talk to the Spain Chamber of Commerce, saying, you know, we’re here in Atlanta now, and we don’t want to leave, which means folks are going to want to come. They’re going to wanna invest.”
The Metro Atlanta Chamber, the Spain–U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Embassy of Spain in the United States hosted the Atlanta Global Sports & Business Summit on Monday. (Marlon Hyde/WABE)
Former U.S. Congressman Kwanza Hall is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors for Develop Fulton, which focuses on driving economic growth, job creation and tax base expansion across Fulton County.
“It helps the local economy because we ensure that that investment happens,” said Hall.
He says that Develop Fulton offers tax incentives to help companies looking to relocate and invest in the county, offsetting costs.
“There’s a lot of competition for companies to locate in a variety of places in the United States. Georgia has been more competitive than others, and Fulton County has tried to be equally as competitive for the industries that fit our profile,” Hall added.
Business leaders hope this event bolsters the economic relationship between Spain and the U.S. ahead of the Atlanta Falcons’ November matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals in Madrid, Spain.
In addition, the Royal Spanish Football Federation has set up a fan headquarters in Atlanta called Casa España Atlanta. Although its name is similar to that of our group, Casa de España en Georgia, we are two separate entities. Casa de España en Georgia is helping Casa España Atlanta promote its activities while we all cheer on Spain in the upcoming matches.
Casa España Atlanta will be open until June 21, when the Spanish team will play two matches in Atlanta.
