DELTA AIR LINES TRAVEL STORIES BRIEF

Create awareness about new global Delta routes and destinations among 24-35 year-old Atlanta and global soccer fans

STRATEGY

Delta Travel Stories used to be a piece of content centered around stories of players and staff preparing for the team’s away trips to other cities. In 2024, together with the Commercial Partnership Strategy team we brought Delta Air Lines a new bolder idea: a documentary series where we could go deeper and tell the human stories behind the club’s players; stories of family, sacrifice, love, and resilience. The selling point was to tie each trip to a new Delta route or key destinations for the airline. Below you will find a spotlight on the most successful long-form piece of content ever in the history of Atlanta United content, and toward the end, more about this series.

CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHT: MIGUEL ALMIRÓN CONTAR CONTIGO

Miguel Almirón Contar Contigo chronicles the inspiring rise of Paraguayan soccer player Miguel Almirón, from his humble beginnings in Asunción to stardom with Atlanta United, Newcastle United, and his emotional return to Atlanta in 2025. The film explores his relentless pursuit of excellence, his role in ending Paraguay’s 16-year World Cup drought, and the unwavering love of his wife Alexia and family who continue to shape his journey. It’s a story of resilience, identity, and the power of home. Learn more by clicking here as well.

After watching the film, you can also read the editorial stories we prepared to go along with the documentary:

• Leading Paraguay to the World Cup for the first time in 16 years | READ HERE
• Why he decided to come back to Atlanta | READ HERE
• The Love Story of Miguel and Alexia | READ HERE

RESULTS:

• Best-performing long-form content in club’s history
• 72% Views from Paraguay and Argentina – Key Delta destinations
• 67% 24-35 YO viewers
• 1.2M Media views across content on Instagram and YouTube
• 97% Reach of new YouTube viewers

SEE MORE DELTA TRAVEL STORIES:

REFLECTING ON MIGUEL ALMIRÓN CONTAR CONTIGO

It all started with an idea I had to revamp Atlanta United’s year-long series Delta Travel Stories. What used to be a piece of content centered around the team’s away travels to other cities and stories around players and staff preparing for the trips, became a documentary series. What if we could go deeper? What if we could tell the human stories behind the players; stories of family, sacrifice, love, and resilience? And so, since 2024 the talented team that we had, started traveling around the world to places like Greece, Argentina, Italy and Norway, among others.

This past June, it was my turn along with Joe Freihofer, the club’s host and video producer to travel down to Asunción, Paraguay. It was Joe’s first-time ever in Latin America, and my chance to re-immerse in my passionate love for South America. It became one of the most fulfilling projects of both of our careers; despite working on several full-length documentaries before, I’ll never forget the places this story took us.

We stood in the streets of Asunción where Miguel grew up; we sat in his mother’s home, where she told us about working double shifts at a supermarket to keep his dream alive; we ate his grandmother’s food, the same one she used to feed him; we drank his uncle’s tereré, the same one they share with friends; we spoke with his grandfather, who joked he’d beat Miguel one-on-one; we visited Cerro Porteño where he almost gave up; and the legendary Defensores del Chaco, where Paraguay roared back into the World Cup after 16 years.

This trip changed my whole perspective. I had the privilege of shaping this story from ideation to storyboard, to production and distribution. Joe and I, together we traveled, we carried our cameras and shot around Asunción, we asked questions, and we listened deeply. Joe deserves enormous credit for living and breathing this film in the edit room, days and nights, and I’m proud to have produced it by his side.

For me personally, this project became more than part of my job. It gave me space to breathe in a year that’s been fast, demanding, and, at times, disheartening. It reminded me why I fell in love with this industry in the first place; not for the content calendar, not for the metrics, but for the power of storytelling. For the chance to move people, to honor voices that deserve to be heard, and to create something that lingers long after the final whistle. It gave the opportunity to appreciate why I really do this ‘job’.

This documentary reaffirmed something I’d lost sight of: storytelling is where my heart lives.

To Miguel and Alexia, and the entire Almirón family… thank you for opening your doors and your lives to us. To ‘Tata’ Martino, to Miguel’s coaches, agent, and friends… thank you for the honesty.

This is Miguel’s story. But for me, it became a mirror, reminding me of resilience, of roots, and of why I do what I do.

RESULTS:

• By leveraging Miguel Almirón’s story of sacrifice and return home, the content positioned Delta as the essential cultural bridge between Atlanta’s grit and global heritage.
• By tapping into deeply human stories, Delta served as the catalyst to transform the collective dreams of 6 million Paraguayans fighting for a historic World Cup return after 16 years, aligning the airline’s South American expansion with the “underdog” spirit of young fans who value authenticity.
• The goal was to use Almirón’s story to move Delta from a transactional carrier to an “Emotional Home,” facilitating the spiritual return that defines the modern soccer fan’s identity.

Executive Production: Atlanta United FC, Delta Air Lines
Producers: Joe Freihofer, Hannah Jordan, Alexia Notto, Diego Pinzón, Hannah Shoenner
Directors: Joe Freihofer, Diego Pinzón
Editing: Joe Freihofer
Concept and original idea: Diego Pinzón
Camera: Joe Freihofer, Diego Pinzón
Creative direction: Joe Freihofer, José Hadathy, Khoury Kennedy, Diego Pinzón
Editorial: Joe Freihofer, Adam Jasper, Diego Pinzón, Justin Veldhuis
Social Media & Content Distribution: Becca Fallon, Diego Pinzón, Antonio Tinajero
Atlanta United FC | An ATL UTD Original production | All rights reserved