Mercer to host Los Angeles FC for practices ahead of FIFA Club World Cup in Atlanta

Mercer University will serve as the practice facility for Los Angeles Football Club ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup in Atlanta this month and could host a FIFA World Cup team in 2026, the university announced at a press conference Tuesday.

After an introduction from Mercer athletic director Jim Cole, Mayor Lester Miller unfurled an LAFC jersey emblazoned with Olivier Giroud’s name and number while he announced that the team would practice in Macon ahead of its Club World Cup appearance.

“Join me in standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Los Angeles Football Club,” Miller said as he showed off the kit. “Macon and Mercer University have been picked to host them as their official practice facility in the community. This is our team, this is their time.”

The California squad is set to arrive June 13 to use Mercer’s newly-renovated soccer field and facilities, which Cole said the university spent “seven figures” renovating to get up to FIFA standards. The team will stay for about two weeks. 

The hosting was organized by Mercer in partnership with Macon-Bibb County, Visit Macon and the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Should the gig go well this month, Mercer will be in the running to host a country’s national team during the regular World Cup in 2026.

Fans will not be able to watch the team practice over the course of the two weeks they train in Macon, Cole said, emphasizing the scale of the Club World Cup’s operation.

“It’d be like the Dallas Cowboys coming to town,” he said. “It’s like the Atlanta Falcons coming here to do their summer camp.”

The team could bring around 75 people to town, Cole said, including dieticians, trainers, massage therapists and other team employees besides the players. The organization will stay at a Macon hotel secured with the help of Visit Macon and use Mercer’s football field house and weight room for workouts.

With the team should come plenty of fans to boost Macon tourism, Visit Macon CEO Gary Wheat said. Macon’s sports tourism industry has grown from roughly $2 million in 2017 to $12.5 million in 2024. Wheat said the city has already seen about $11 million of sports tourism revenue this year.

“It’s what, June 3? That’s pretty good,” Mayor Miller said after Wheat listed the statistics.

LAFC earned its spot in Group D, the set of teams playing in Atlanta, after defeating the Mexican squad Club America in a thrilling extra time game May 31. Los Angeles will face Chelsea, a storied team in England’s world-renowned Premier League, in Atlanta on June 16.

The arrival date of June 13 for LAFC could change, Cole and other officials said, but the team will depart once its Club World Cup run ends.

Trusting the process

Wheat knew as soon as he saw Atlanta selected as a World Cup site that Macon could be a part of something special.

“It’s kind of like the Olympics, it’s one of those opportunities that only comes along once every so often, and in Atlanta it’s once in a lifetime,” he said. “When Atlanta was announced as a host site, we wanted to make sure that we had a seat at the table.”

Along with Mercer deputy athletic director Daniel Tate, Wheat took the lead on bringing the global soccer phenomenon to Macon. 

“We knew we could do it with the leaders we have here, and we knew it would be an excellent opportunity to showcase our great community,” Wheat said. “It’s also a great economic impact … They’ll eat here, they’ll stay here and their fans and administrators and all that will descend upon Macon.”

It took about a year for Mercer, Macon-Bibb County and Visit Macon to get the city in as a potential practice site, Wheat said, noting the long application process.

FIFA’s requirements for Mercer’s site were not to be taken lightly.

“I was very proud of our field before we started this process. But after their site visits and visiting other sites that had World Cup-type facilities, I quickly realized that our pitch was not up to World Cup standards,” Cole said.

A key donation made the pricey field renovation possible, Cole said, and now FIFA officials are rigorously inspecting the pitch on a regular basis to make sure it’s up to snuff for World Cup competition, practice field or not.

“I’ll tell you, a World Cup representative is here three times a week measuring the grass, taking temperatures, that’s how intense it is,” Cole said. “We’ve learned a lot, and we’re really proud of it.”

The security measures will be tight as well.

“We have the fence around the soccer field, we’ve had to install a secondary fence as sort of a staging area where the buses come in where they can sort of unload,” Cole said. “They’ll have security with them at all times… It’s just the way they do things in World Cup soccer.”

While the team practices will not be open to fans, Wheat said the city will be working with LAFC on community engagement possibilities. There could also be prize packages raffled or auctioned off, as Maconites were encouraged by Miller and others to root for LAFC as Macon’s “hometown team” in the tournament.

After the tentative Macon arrival date June 13, LAFC will face Chelsea on June 16 at 3 p.m. in Atlanta to begin Group D play.