Josh Blank, the vice president of executive strategy for Arthur M. Blank Sports and Entertainment (AMBSE), was sitting behind his desk during a Zoom call in early July.
It was an off day for Atlanta when it came to hosting the World Cup, but Blank was still dressed like it was another day at work.
Button-down shirt. Hair styled. Dress pants.
He was outward and forthcoming about Atlanta’s bid and approval for an NWSL team in 2028 – both on and off the record – but there’s one thing that he didn’t share: the name of the team.
Three full months later, we now know that the team will be called Atlanta City FC.
The name and brand are now in place, but how did we arrive here?
“We had about 600 names that we went through,” Vice President of Creative for AMBSE Larry Luk said.
While the organization landed on Atlanta City FC – or ATL CTY for short – there were three main themes that went into the naming of the team after chatting with fans, members of the organization, leaders around Atlanta, and more.
Those three themes were Phoenix, rooted in history, and dogwood.
Those elements were at the top of the list, so much so that Dogwood FC and Phoenix were two of the names included on the organization’s short list.
The Phoenix rising from the ashes represents the city of Atlanta, while the dogwood represents four seasons. Being rooted in history is something that Blank told The IX Sports was important to the organization when deciding on a name, and those in leadership took it seriously.
“When we say Atlanta, we want it to mean everyone in Atlanta,” Deandra Duggans, the club’s vice president and chief business officer, told The IX Sports. “We wanted to make sure that the word Atlanta was in there. People have a lot of pride in the city, and we want to make sure that we maintain that pride for sure. We want to tell everything behind the development of the club name, the development of the club identity, and what it should mean for the city.”
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Duggans joined the organization in May, after a stint with the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. She said that by the time she arrived in the fold, the name, colors, and design were already in full swing.
What the organization did when deciding on the name was reach out to the other NWSL team that has a similar naming format – Angel City FC.
They spoke to the leaders there about how they use color, the name, and more to help them out with their branding.
Ultimately, the team landed on using the red that is an integral part of every Atlanta sports team, but to set it apart, it has the peach color for the state of Georgia in its crest.
The designers were intentional with every aspect of the design in a way that they’ve been intentional with every part of the rollout.
There’s a hidden “A” in the Phoenix in the crest to represent the city. At the bottom of the crest, there are roots that are supposed to represent being “rooted in the culture.”
There is a dogwood representation for the logo as well, with the four different sides representing the four seasons.
Then, if you look at the interior, you can see the same design that is used for Atlanta United for brand synergy.
“The brand archetype is explore. We want to make sure that we’re innovative, that we are aspirational as part of our brand archetype, but also that we’re competitive and we’re fierce,” Duggans said. “That will show up in things that we do from a business side, but also from a culture.”
That will be an intentional decision, too, as is Atlanta City FC being intentional with its audience.
They are 100% focused on women fans.
“We are unapologetically female-focused,” Kiana Miree, the vice president of retail and merchandising at AMBSE, said. “Men, we aren’t forgetting you, but you have enough out there.”
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Upon getting an early look at the name, branding, and merchandise, The IX Sports was told by a source that “it’s the most forward-fashion release for an expansion team that you’ve ever seen.”
The expectations, then, were high.
Miree and her team delivered.
There will be an event on Oct. 4 for fans to attend to celebrate the name of the team, as well as their first chance to buy merchandise.
And yes, while there are a few shirts and a hoodie for the men, the release of merchandise for the women is, as promised, huge and focused on forward-fashion.
There are multiple pieces as part of a partnership with Peace Collective, as well as crop hoodies, crop shirts, and other options.
“For a long time, when you talked about clothing for women in sports, the expression was shrink it and pink it,” Miree said. “That’s not what we are doing.”
Focusing on the target audience of women and children makes sense from a business perspective, as Miree said that those fans want to be able to see themselves in the designs.
But another segment of fans that play a big part in NWSL culture are LGBTQIA+ fans.
While the designs of the merchandise were catering to fem-presenting women, there was a lack of non-fem options.
“I’m glad you asked that,” Miree told The IX Sports. “We have a lot of options on the way, and the LGBTQIA+ community is a big part of the NWSL. All I can say right now is just watch.”
Duggans added that the team plans to partner with local creators – including queer creators – as part of its brand rollout.
Like athletes in the WNBA, NWSL players are vocal when it comes to being at the forefront of social issues.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the team’s home field, was one of the stadiums that refused to host Macklemore after his calls for a “Free Palestine.” But Duggans said that when it comes to the players for Atlanta City FC, they want them to be authentically them.
“Allowing them to be authentically themselves is really important. It helps to raise their star and helps to raise the team star,” Duggans said. “That’s going to be important. With stadium arrivals, allowing them to be expressive is going to be an important part of you know our match day experience. We’ll definitely make sure that they are able to express themselves freely, using our platform as their platform, and really raise the bar.”
The team is looking to raise the bar with season ticket deposits as well, with it playing in the biggest venue in the league.
As of a week before the brand reveal, Mauricio Culebro, the president of soccer for AMBSE, said that the team has around 5,000 Founding Member deposits. Those deposits are for accounts – not tickets – as a Founding Member can purchase more than one season ticket.
After the brand reveal, he’s expecting that number to go up.
“We have an idea of the deposits that we want to reach before we start playing. We want to keep on trying to grow that number, and I think after everything that’s coming on with the brand reveal, that’s going to be very important,” Culebro told The IX Sports. “But we’re confident that we’re going to get where we want to, and because it’s a great moment for us and for Atlanta.”
Duggan, who told The IX Sports that there are a lot of lessons that she’s learned from her time in the WNBA that she’s applying to her role with the team, said that having the name out there gives fans something to galvanize around.”
“We have a name that people can rally around, and it’s tangible now,” she said. “We feel like this moment and our launch party on Oct. 4, will definitely be a launch pad for us to start to get out there and increase those numbers. We feel very confident going forward, and we’re looking forward to transitioning those and converting those deposits over to season tickets in the spring of 2027.”
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2027 is set to be a big year for ATL CTY, as it will reveal its inaugural kits within the year. While they said “stay tuned” when asked, a source told The IX Sports that they are planning to reveal them in Q4 of 2027.
Duggans said that the team will be partnering with not only the Atlanta Dream in the future, but all of the women’s sports teams around the city, as well.
They want everyone to know that Atlanta City FC is for the city, but for women’s sports fans, too.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Duggans said. “We realize that.”
Atlanta City FC will be announcing the hire of a chief soccer officer in the coming days, and Culebro said that they expect to make additional hires to the front office before December.
After that, the team can start to take shape with the hiring of a head coach, as well as start signing players in the next transfer window – with the caveat being that they would loan them out for the 2027 season.
The team name and branding are out there, so now Culebro is focused on building the team that will start play in 2028.
Like was the case with the name and the branding, there’s a clear direction for that, too.
“Obviously we want to win games as well, but we want to have a team that is entertaining for the fans,” Culebro said. “We want a team that shows a lot of energy on the pitch, and doesn’t give up. A team that fans will feel proud of, and they have a great time every time they come to the stadium and watch them play.”
