Atlanta, GA (September 23, 2026)—When FIFA World Cup 2026 hit the U.S. this summer, sports fans across the country reveled in the excitement, but few places were as ready to stoke that enthusiasm as Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, which hosted FIFA Fan Festival Atlanta.
The massive undertaking saw the famed site become a temporary outdoor broadcast and entertainment venue that hosted 19 public operating days and more than 536,000 guests for live match broadcasts, concerts, sponsor activations and community programming.
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The backbone behind that massive undertaking was Atlanta-based live event production company Technical Elements; serving as the production partner for FIFA Fan Festival Atlanta, the company installed, operated and maintained the technical infrastructure across a 38-day production run, leaning on a Harman Professional audio system based around JBL Professional loudspeakers and Crown amplifiers.
Programming included live match broadcasts, sponsor presentations, concerts, DJ sets and nighttime celebrations, so the audio system needed to maintain speech intelligibility for hosts, commentators and presentations while providing appropriate sound for live music and match celebrations, with consistent coverage throughout the audience area.
“For us, success wasn’t measured by one great show,” said Brandon Montgomery, sales director for Technical Elements. “The primary objective was to create an immersive environment that matched the excitement of one of the world’s biggest sporting events by delivering the same world-class experience daily, from opening ceremony through the final whistle.”
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Technical Elements designed the main PA around JBL Professional VTX A12 line arrays, with VTX A8 loudspeakers used for front-fill and supplemental coverage to maintain consistent SPL and frequency response throughout the venue, and JBL VTX B28 dual 18-inch subwoofers bolstering live music, DJ sets and match celebrations.
Extending coverage across the festival site, VTX V20 loudspeakers paired with VTX G28 subwoofers served as delay systems, while J VRX932LAP loudspeakers covered site entrances. On stage, artists were supported by JBL VTX M20 monitor wedges and VTX A8 side fills paired with VTX B18 subwoofers. Powering all that were Crown I-Tech 4x3500HD and I-Tech 12000HD amplifiers
“When you’re operating outdoors in Atlanta for more than five weeks, reliability isn’t just an equipment specification; it’s part of the production strategy,” said Zach Sturino, senior director of Events for Technical Elements. “We chose systems we knew could deliver at this scale day after day.”
