How Charlotte FC secured MLS All-Star Game, plans to capitalize post-World Cup
MLS All-Star coach Dean Smith doesn’t know much about the All-Star Game.
The Charlotte FC boss, speaking to reporters in early July, shared that he’s never participated in one. In fact, he’s never even watched one.
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The 55-year-old Smith is from West Bromwich, England, and has spent most of his playing and managerial career in England. Across the pond, All-Star Games don’t exist, and there really aren’t any similar types of contests.
However, Smith’s lack of knowledge does not mean he isn’t embracing the responsibility of leading MLS’ top players against the Liga MX All-Stars in the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday. Despite the match’s low stakes, he said he takes it seriously because he understands the impact the match can have on the broader community.
“By hosting the All-Star Game,” Smith said, “it can only help to grow the sport of soccer or football in this country. I know they’ll embrace it.”
As international talents like Son Heung-Min, Thomas Müller and Tim Ream descend upon Charlotte, fans will have the chance to watch players they might never see in one place on a single ticket. Some will be motivated to do so after engaging with soccer for the first time in June and July, during the World Cup hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
MLS will use the game as a springboard to capitalize on soccer’s American momentum to grow the league, while Charlotte sports organizers hope to shine a light on the burgeoning city.
The Charlotte, Concord and Gastonia metropolitan area is projected to grow by 11% to a population of over 3,000,000 in 2030, ranking eighth in the U.S., according to Population Explorer, which analyzes population datasets and projections across 55 American metro areas.
“Here, we have this stage … to show off this great city,” Charlotte FC Chief Revenue Officer Eric Sudol said. “(This) is kind of like throwing a little gasoline on the fire. Where was that? How do I get there? That place seemed cool.”
Charlotte FC first began MLS play in 2022, arriving before 74,479 spectators in its inaugural home match at Bank of America Stadium. In its five seasons to date, it has ranked among the top five MLS clubs, averaging over or near 30,000 spectators per game.
While every MLS expansion club is promised an All-Star Game by Commissioner Don Garber, some take longer than others. FC Cincinnati, which is in its eighth season, for example, still hasn’t hosted the contest. On the contrary, Atlanta United, which started play in 2017, got the All-Star Game in its second year after smashing several attendance records.
In its package to secure the All-Star Game, the Charlotte Sports Foundation — a nonprofit that helps bring large sporting events to Charlotte — put together a bid book to showcase the benefits of the team’s uptown venue, passionate fan base and considerable partnerships across the city. Director of Communications Miller Yoho said the organization showcased the environment that could be created across the city, not just around the arena.
As the event has come together, it has delivered on that promise with a schedule that features a Skills Challenge at Truist Field on Tuesday, an MLS NEXT All-Star Game at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex on Monday, and a soccer celebration at Romare Bearden Park on Saturday and Sunday.
MLS Senior Vice President, Chief Events Officer Jen Maurillo said Charlotte FC’s combination of access and ownership of local infrastructure and vision for the week were key reasons the club secured the game.
Charlotte has become such a premium soccer market so quickly,” Maurillo said. “It was very obvious to us that we had to get the All-Star Game to Charlotte as quickly as possible, so that we could showcase what Charlotte has to offer in the soccer world and globally.”
Part of the reason Charlotte was able to compile such a compelling bid is because of the North Carolina Major Events, Games and Attractions fund, which uses revenue from the state’s 18% tax on gross wagering revenue generated by sportsbooks to help local organizations beat out other states for competitive events.
North Carolina Secretary of Commerce Lee Lilley was first made aware of the All-Star Game bid in the spring of 2025, and quickly realized it qualified for state funds because other teams were competing for the event. He declined to name those clubs, but after collecting intel on Charlotte’s package, the state understood it could support about 30% of the total in-state spending of about $6.5 million, he said, with a grant of $2,028,950.
Lilley said he expects restaurants, lodging and vendors to see the greatest impact from the All-Star Game in Charlotte. Tourism spending reached a high of $37.2 billion in North Carolina last year, and Lilley said he hopes the fund will help set another benchmark in 2026.
“These (events) are … spotlights on the region,” Lilley said. “When you host the All-Star Game in Charlotte, you are generating a ton of essentially earned media there, marketing for the region, not just people visiting, but people who watch on television.”
Since MLS awarded the game to Charlotte, Charlotte FC’s Director of Communications, Woody Wilder, said the club has been working weekly, if not daily, with the Charlotte Sports Foundation, MLS and the state of North Carolina — among other stakeholders — to plan and amplify the event.
Yoho said the event is planning a “full city takeover” and pointed to the economic impact of more than $20 million from last year’s Austin All-Star Game, according to the Austin Sports Commission, as a number they’ve paid attention to.
“Anytime something’s going on in uptown that’s a sporting event, Yoho said, “the energy is just different. People are walking around. It feels like it captures the energy of that sport in a unique urban environment.”
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The MLS All-Star team includes 13 players from World Cup rosters, though Argentina and Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul will miss the contest as they take a hiatus following the World Cup, according to ESPN. Nevertheless, from established talents like Charlotte FC’s Tim Ream and LAFC’s Son to up-and-coming talents like Real Salt Lake’s Zavier Gozo and Chicago Fire’s Mbekezeli Mbokazi, several talented players are set to feature.
The Liga MX side has six players from Mexico’s World Cup roster, including 17-year-old phenom Gilberto Mora. Goalkeeper Keylor Navas of Pumas, who made three World Cup rosters before retiring from international soccer with Costa Rica in 2024, is also on the squad.
The MLS starting 11 were selected through fan, player and media voting; 16 of the remaining selections were picked collaboratively by Smith and MLS, and the final two were chosen by Garber.
Smith said he tried to make his picks based on the best players in the league, who typically come from winning teams. But he collaborated with MLS to diversify his picks across the league and “sprinkle” in World Cup talent, he said.
“Picking a team is always difficult,” Smith said. “You’re going to upset people. … But you also need to collaborate with the league as well because you know we want this to be a commercial success, but we want it to be a sporting success as well.”
When Jamie Ferro, who runs communications for Charlotte FC supporter group Mint City Collective, moved to Charlotte in late 2019, she didn’t know much about soccer. She grew up with other sports, but top soccer leagues were far from her radar.
At that point, MLS certainly wasn’t her focus.
But by way of a Mint City flag hanging from one of her neighbors’ houses and a new partner notifying her of Charlotte FC’s first home contest, she made it to that inaugural game in Charlotte. After singing, chanting and rooting for The Crown alongside a packed stadium of fans, she said the evening was “magic,” and she’s been to almost every home game since.
Soccer was easy for Ferro to get hooked on, she said, because of the atmosphere of the supporters section and community outside of games. She said Mint City members stay in touch between matches using Discord, a group chatting platform.
Mint City isn’t Charlotte FC’s only supporter group; several organizations join together as a “family” to amp up the club’s game-day atmosphere, Ferro said. Those groups play their traditional songs — possibly even “Pepas” — and even hoist a tifo — a large banner — during the All-Star Game, she added.
Ferro thinks the All-Star Game could draw in new fans riding the World Cup high. She imagines that some of the attendees will become devout fans, just as she did after Charlotte FC’s inaugural match.
“Charlotte in the last five seasons has really started to establish itself as a bona fide soccer city,” Ferro said. “It’s going to be really cool to show what we do on a weekly basis when we’re at home, but be able to show that on a national stage, which is a great opportunity.”
Maurillo said MLS’ auxiliary programming during the All-Star week is designed to engage different audiences, adding that of the main aspects of the event is to widen the league’s audience.
Influencers and celebrities will feature throughout the week, she said, and some will even compete in the Skills Challenge.
“That’s what is going to make us most successful, if we can get those broader audiences that have been tuning into the World Cup to continue to tune in with us and with Charlotte. And I think Charlotte has set us up very, very nicely to do that,” Maurillo said.
Charlotte’s future as a sporting city is seemingly the tip of the iceberg, as Yoho said the Major Events, Games and Attractions fund has provided more opportunities for the city to bid and be competitive for national events. It is supporting 11 contests across the state this year, and Lilley said the state wants to host more U.S. national team games.
Yoho hopes people come to Charlotte for the All-Star Game and leave remembering the state’s welcoming culture. He called this summer the “perfect formula” for the event. After the city hosted 57,741 fans for the U.S. World Cup warmup against Senegal, it is once again looking to capitalize on soccer’s renewed momentum around the World Cup.
“Charlotte is a soccer city,” Yoho said. “It’s proven it.”
Sudol said there was an “aura in the air” during the World Cup, even though Charlotte didn’t host a match.
Sudol expects soccer to continue gaining steam in Charlotte, a place he described as the intersection of modern momentum and southern hospitality, during MLS All-Star week. And the city is looking to promote itself in the process.
“MLS ultimately has control of the event,” Sudol said, “but it’s our home. It’s our city. It’s our region, and this is about that.”
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