The story begins in a place few would expect. What connects Spain, European champions and tonight’s World Cup finalists against Argentina at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with a club from the MLS development system in a city known in Italy mostly because of an old Eighties tea commercial? Perhaps a small fragment of what football is becoming. But the road there leads through Chattanooga. One of the unexpected centres of this American World Cup has been Chattanooga, a city of almost 200,000 people in Tennessee. In Italy, its name entered popular culture through Dan Peterson, who mentioned it in an advert for iced tea. “Hi friends, do you know what we drink here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, when the sun splits you in four?” said the former Olimpia Milano coach, then a television commentator. Those thirty seconds became part of Italian television history, one of the images most closely associated with the Eighties. Today, Chattanooga has long described itself as a “Soccer Town”. It simply never hosted a World Cup match. Spain, though, chose it as its base during the group stage. The decision came with around 600,000 dollars in security costs. The local administration saw the investment quickly repaid. The Spanish federation booked 184 rooms, occupying the Embassy Suites in the city centre in full. La Roja supporters followed, along with visitors who chose Chattanooga for its proximity to Atlanta, one of the tournament’s host cities.
Speaking to Sportico, mayor Tim Kelly said hotels and restaurants had described the impact as “significant”, while pointing to the international attention brought to the city. “It is difficult to quantify the value of this exposure,” Kelly said. “But I am convinced it is worth far more than the 600,000 dollars spent.” The final between Spain and Argentina could add another chapter to Chattanooga’s football story. The city is home to Chattanooga FC, who compete in MLS Next Pro, the league created as a bridge between MLS academies, first teams and emerging football markets. For the club, Spain’s stay represents more than a few weeks of visibility. It is another step in a longer project: turning Chattanooga into a recognised football destination, attracting sponsors, players and supporters along the way. In July, the club recorded its highest attendance ever, passing 6,000 spectators for a single match. The growth has been steady. Revenues have more than tripled since 2022, when public figures showed income of 1.1 million dollars. Today, 87 per cent of turnover comes from commercial partnerships, ticket sales and youth programmes. The club expects further growth in 2026.
The origins of Chattanooga FC, however, were never only financial. Founded in 2009 by Kelly together with local entrepreneurs and community figures, the club was created as a way to develop the area and welcome workers arriving for Volkswagen’s new factory, which opened in the city. At first, the team played in a summer amateur competition with college players. Then came the move towards professionalism. When another club entered the local market through USL League One, Chattanooga FC chose not to follow the same path, continuing its own project in the emerging professional structure around the National Premier Soccer League. In 2019, the club opened ownership directly to the community, launching a public capital campaign. It became the first sports organisation to use the opportunities created by the 2016 JOBS Act, the US legislation that allowed private companies to raise investment from ordinary citizens. Through WeFunder, Chattanooga FC collected 872,750 dollars from 3,254 supporters. After a period in the National Independent Soccer Association and a change in ownership — with entrepreneur Davis Grizzard, from the family behind Grain Craft, becoming president and majority shareholder in 2020 — Chattanooga FC entered MLS Next Pro in 2024. The move brought the club into the MLS system, including access to revenue-sharing mechanisms.
Created in 2022, MLS Next Pro was designed to connect youth development with professional football while bringing the game into markets beyond the traditional MLS landscape. Some clubs use it mainly as a pathway for young players. Others see something larger: a chance to build sustainable football businesses. That ambition was strengthened in April with the arrival of private equity group KKR as an investor in the league. Six teams linked to MLS franchises currently compete in Next Pro while maintaining separate identities, three of them in cities different from their parent clubs. They are joined by three independent sides, including Chattanooga FC. Four more clubs are expected to join in 2027. Before entering the league, Chattanooga FC considered becoming the development side of Atlanta United. Instead, it chose to remain independent. For Ali Curtis, president of MLS Next Pro, Spain’s decision was “an extraordinary confirmation of the value of the city of Chattanooga” and a reflection of why the league wanted the club among its members.
“It is an exceptional city,” Curtis told Sportico. “A place capable of supporting not only professional football, but also an international event of this scale.” For him, the World Cup has shown how much room there is still to grow. In 1994, when the United States hosted the tournament, the country had little of the infrastructure needed to sustain a football culture. Today, cities such as Chattanooga, Mansfield in Texas and Huntsville in Alabama are part of a different landscape. “Five years from now, the panorama of our league will be completely different, and the same will be true for Chattanooga FC,” Curtis said. “That is why it does not surprise us at all that Spain chose Chattanooga.” For Kelly, the moment is also personal. No longer involved in the day-to-day running of the club, the mayor is now looking at what can come after the spotlight fades. A city once reduced in Italy to a line from an Eighties tea advert now finds itself attached to something else: a football project still taking shape.