Just kickin’ it!
Major League Soccer is the top-flight professional soccer league in the U.S. and Canada founded in 1996 with 10 teams in the inaugural campaign after the USA hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Since 1996, MLS has exploded in popularity among young adults and celebs with many big-named team owners including Will Ferrell and Magic Johnson (LAFC), Matthew McConaughey (Austic FC), James Harden and Oscar de la Hoya (Houston Dynamo), David Beckham (Inter Miami), and Gabrielle Union and her daughter Kaavia James Union Wade (Angel City FC), and many more.
The buzzy league expanded to 28 teams including the wildly popular Atlanta United which joined Major League Soccer in 2017 and won the 2018 MLS Cup in just its second season.
The club continues to set multiple league records including season tickets sales (36,000+), single-season average (53,002), and total home attendance (901,033).
It also connects to Atlanta’s history as a railroad town through its popular pre-game ritual of hitting the golden spike.
Owned by Arthur M. Blank and led by club President Darren Eales, the Atlanta United plays its home matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium where we recently experienced the city’s most entertaining sporting event during an all-access staycation weekend courtesy of MLS, Atlanta United, Adidas, and IHG Hotels & Resorts.
The exclusive experience featured a champagne sunset toast at the TOP of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium (that we accessed by climbing 18 flights of stairs), BTS stadium tour with locker room access (where we were gifted personalized jerseys), content-capture opportunities on the field, suite access with all-you-can eat premium food/beverages, super fun tailgating shenanigans, and surprise celebrity cameos by Jermaine Dupri, huge soccer fan B.O.B., and Lou Will.
We also enjoyed accommodations, complimentary meals, and surprise Adidas merch at the Kimpton Sylvan Hotel (part of IHG Hotels & Resorts Luxury & Lifestyle collection) tucked away in Atlanta’s Buckhead area.
From playful and sophisticated design to award-winning restaurants (THE BETTY!) and bars, Kimpton is known for creating immersive guest experiences that foster genuine human connections.
Overall, we had an amazing time at our first-ever MLS game that has an electric energy unlike any football, basketball or baseball game we’ve attended. And no, you don’t need to know anything about soccer to have a great time. Trust us, it’s a vibe.
