Whether you're a soccer fan or not, Atlanta being selected to host 8 matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is a huge deal for our city and citizens. It may be dwarfed in popularity in the US by football, but globally, soccer reigns supreme. For perspective, the 2024 Super Bowl was the highest rated ever with 123 million US viewers (I couldn't find global viewership numbers), while the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia averaged 191 million global viewers PER MATCH (and there are 64 matches)! Fans from all over the world will flock to our city in June of 2026 to be a part of this spectacle. But aside from proximity, what does that have to do with you? That's where ADUs can come in to play.
ADU stands for Accessory Dwelling Unit and is a detached structure a homeowner can build on their property in some municipalities (if they are zoned correctly for it, among other factors). They generally have more lenient rules when it comes to things like property setback requirements, but are commonly restricted to a max of 750 square feet in total area. We've seen them most commonly as a garage with an apartment above or an in-law suite. In Atlanta (2024), a 750 square foot ADU new build will generally cost somewhere between $225k and $250k for most standard situations. While that might seem like a lot of money, hosting the World Cup puts it in a whole different perspective.
Demand for short term housing is going to skyrocket around match time, which means rental prices will follow suit. We've seen this before when Atlanta hosted the 2018 college football national championship and the 2019 Super Bowl, when modest homes were renting for $2,000 per night! There will be a window of as much as 37 days where soccer fans from all over the world will be in Atlanta needing a place to stay, and that could be to your benefit. Even at half that rate, renting out your ADU during the World Cup would pay for TWO YEARS worth of loan payments on the new structure!
Aside from hosting the World Cup attendees, ADUs are exploding in popularity for homeowners looking for some passive income, a detached garage, extra storage, or a separate place for friends and family to stay when they come visit.
If you're interested in learning more about your own ADU, send us a note and let's see if we can make it happen!
One last note: Don't let anyone give you a hard time about calling it soccer and not football. The name "soccer" was created by the English (who invented the sport) and was a perfectly acceptable name for it in England until rugby football eventually was just called rugby. It's still a perfectly acceptable name around the world, especially where countries have other forms of football!