England’s World Cup semi‑final against Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday night was played under the roof of one of the tournament’s flagship arenas – a stadium owned by a US billionaire whose fortune and philanthropy are deeply entangled with Israel and Zionist causes .
Mercedes‑Benz Stadium, temporarily rebranded "Atlanta Stadium" for FIFA’s commercial rules, belongs to Arthur Blank, the Jewish American co‑founder of Home Depot and long‑time owner of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons. The venue hosted eight matches at this World Cup , including Wednesday’s semi‑final, several group games and earlier knockout ties.
Blank, 83, bought the Falcons in 2002 and has since turned Atlanta into one of the United States’ most prominent sports hubs. His flagship project is Mercedes‑Benz Stadium, the retractable‑roof arena that opened in 2017 in downtown Atlanta at a cost of around $1.6 billion, funded through a mix of private investment and public support.
The ground now serves as home to both the Falcons and Major League Soccer side Atlanta United, and has been marketed by organisers as a symbol of the US’s ability to host the expanded 48‑team World Cup.
For many viewers in the Arab world, however, the spectacle on the pitch sits atop a political story about money, power and Israel that is hard to ignore.
Through The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Blank has for years been a major donor to Jewish communal bodies in the US and organisations directly tied to Israel.
In 2016 alone, Blank’s foundation sent at least $75,000 to the Jewish Agency for Israel’s North American Council, the fundraising arm of one of Israel’s key national institutions and later stepped up direct support for Israeli bodies after the 7 October 2023 attacks – announcing $750,000 in emergency grants for Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba and the Israeli volunteer emergency‑response network United Hatzalah.
Blank’s philanthropy sits alongside a family narrative of "steadfast" Zionism. In a published essay for the Jewish National Fund, one of his sons recalls being inspired by his father’s passion for helping Israel and writes that "Zionism in my family has always been steadfast."
The same piece notes that two of Blank’s grandsons later migrated to Israel and served as "lone soldiers" in the Israeli military – one in the Nahal 932 Battalion as a sharpshooter and the other in the Paratroopers 202 Brigade – before returning to the Boston area after completing their tours. Pro‑Israel organisations have promoted the story as an example of diaspora Jewish families strengthening ties with the Israeli military.
Inside Mercedes‑Benz Stadium, World Cup matches have already become a stage for the politics of flags and solidarity.
Earlier in the tournament, the venue hosted Argentina’s dramatic 3–2 comeback win over Egypt, a match that turned into a flashpoint online after footage emerged of Argentine fans waving an Israeli flag as they celebrated. The images provoked anger from Egyptian supporters already furious at what they saw as a rigged match.
For many viewers in the region, Israeli symbols waving in a US stadium while Gaza remains under bombardment were read as a provocation.