A top club soccer rivalry will make a stop at Bobby Dodd Stadium in September as Mexican clubs Club América and Guadalajara have been scheduled to play in the renewal of their El Súper Clásico rivalry. The match will be played Sept. 25, the day after Georgia Tech plays a road game against Central Florida.
The event is being staged by PRIMETIME Sports, a Hispanic sports marketing agency in the United States. Chivas and Club América are the two clubs with the most championships in the history of Mexico’s top soccer division, Liga MX, with América winning 13 to Chivas’ 12. Their rivalry, dubbed El Súper Clásico, dates to 1943 and has few peers in club soccer worldwide.
Other U.S. venues to host the match are the Los Angeles Coliseum, Soldier Field in Chicago and the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Bobby Dodd Stadium staged the first nine home matches of Atlanta United’s first season, all sellouts.
For Tech, the event is part of the athletic department strategy to use Bobby Dodd Stadium as a revenue generator outside of Yellow Jackets home games. The Rolling Stones played the stadium in 2015, and K-pop boy band BTS and Guns N’ Roses were to perform there in 2020 before the dates were canceled because of the pandemic.
“We are very excited for two of international soccer’s premier clubs – CD Chivas de Guadalajara and Club América – to renew their historic rivalry at one of sports’ most historic venues, Bobby Dodd Stadium,” Georgia Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury said in a statement. “It is our long-stated goal to bring premier external events to Bobby Dodd Stadium for our students and fans, as well as fans from across Atlanta and the world, to enjoy. El Súper Clásico certainly fits that bill. We’re looking forward to a great match and a one-of-a-kind experience on Sept. 25.”
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