Atlanta’s most popular World Cup souvenir is free, if you’re willing to wait
Ayo Green has attended Atlanta’s FIFA Fan Festival nearly every day since it opened last month. He said there’s been one constant throughout: “crazy” long lines to get a free, customizable charm bracelet.
“On the first day, it was first come, first (served),” Green said. “The line was so crazy, I think I waited in line an hour.”
After World Cup sponsor Bank of America introduced the beaded “Fan Bands” as a fun giveaway, almost no time passed before they became one of the event’s biggest attractions. Green said he saw people standing in lines that wrapped around multiple booths inside Centennial Olympic Park to pick up the viral souvenir.
Crowds of bracelet-seekers remain large weeks later, Green said, even after the initial high demand prompted officials to ask fans to sign up for time slots in an attempt to have a smoother distribution process.
The crew making the bracelets can put together about 200 in each one-hour time slot, said Al McRae, president of Bank of America Atlanta.
Multiple people said they found out about the bracelets through social media, primarily TikTok. Videos showing users documenting their experiences waiting for and receiving Fan Bands have earned tens of thousands of views on the platform.
Fans have been coming to the park from all over the world multiple times a week to watch live matches shown on big screens. They’ve also waited in hourslong lines for the bracelets, which now have found a robust online resale market.
Bank of America previously said it plans to give out more than two million bracelets containing 10 million beads in multiple World Cup cities. The charms include a World Cup trophy, peace signs and an Atlanta peach. They commemorate a tournament expected to draw an estimated 300,000 unique visitors to Atlanta as the city hosts eight games.
Muhammad Chori, who traveled from Uzbekistan with his friend Donny Umar, said he saw people waiting in line for five hours during one of Atlanta’s earlier Fan Festival days. Chori said he got a bracelet for his sister, who is also a soccer fan but was unable to make the trip.
Jit Singh, who traveled from Singapore, described seeing a near “stampede” in the line to receive a time slot once that new distribution rule went into effect. But most fans said the policy has sped up the process.
Monica Banker said she waited in line with her husband and daughter to get a bracelet for her nephew, a big soccer fan. Rashon Jacob, a University of Georgia student, said he wanted a memento from when the World Cup was in his city.
“I just wanted something that was memorable,” Jacob said.
While some are using the Fan Bands as a gift to give to relatives or a souvenir, others are viewing the free bracelets as a chance to make a profit.
Green said a friend jokingly told him that he was going to try to get an extra one to sell later. On Facebook Marketplace, eBay and Poshmark, the prices listed are anything but a joke.
Asking prices for the bracelets online have ranged from $75 to as much as $500 for one listing on Poshmark. On eBay, scores of listings have sold in recent days for more than $50 on average, data from the site shows.
Matthew Daily, a senior vice president at Bank of America, said the company is not concerned about the growing online market for Fan Bands.
McRae, who has been to the Fan Band booth nearly 10 times to check in, said he’s been excited by the bracelets’ popularity.
“We’re happy that people are really excited about having this great memento ... and have something to commemorate their experience,” he said.