MLS expects Atlanta to be 'epicenter for soccer in the Southeast'
ATLANTA — Citing its growing foreign-born population and a new downtown stadium that will replace the Georgia Dome, Major League Soccer awarded its 22nd franchise to Atlanta on Wednesday.
The franchise, whose name and logo is yet to be determined, will be owned by Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and begin play in 2017 when the estimated $1.2 billion retractable-roof stadium is scheduled to be complete.
"We've been talking to executives from MLS for probably 10 years now," Blank said at a celebration inside a downtown Atlanta restaurant. "It's been a dream of ours."
Atlanta will join Orlando and South Florida — the former will begin play in 2015, the latter is still to be determined — in the MLS' push to re-enter the Southeast after franchises in Tampa and Miami folded in 2001.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber said the league has "been trying to find ways Atlanta made sense" since he took the job in 1999, noting that the metro area has produced a number of MLS and national team players, including Clint Mathis and Ricardo Clark.
The issue was finding a proper venue, which became reality on March 7, 2013, when city leaders approved the contribution of $200 million from a hotel tax for the new stadium.
Blank said capacity for soccer will be 29,322, with "unique" technology to cover the upper deck and give the venue a more intimate feel.
"It's a growing city, has a rich sports tradition and embodies a new American city that is blossoming with ethnic diversity, is connected globally and has young people who grew up with our game," Garber said. "It will be an epicenter for soccer in the Southeast."
Though officials cited big attendance numbers for international matches played in Atlanta recently — a Mexico-Nigeria exhibition match drew 68,212 at the Georgia Doem last month — and noted that the Hispanic population here has doubled in last decade, perhaps the biggest reason to believe the MLS can succeed in this market is Blank's involvement.
The former co-founder of Home Depot, Blank bought the Falcons in 2002 and transformed them into one of the NFL's more successful franchises in a city whose history of supporting pro sports has been mixed. Two NHL teams have left Atlanta, the Hawks ranked 26th in NBA attendance last season despite being a perennial playoff participant and the Braves announced last year they are moving to a new suburban stadium in hopes of increasing attendance.
The Falcons, by contrast, claim to have sold out all but a few of their home games over the past dozen years.
"Leadership matters, and the owner matters," mayor Kasim Reed said. "When Atlanta needs help, the red phone in the mayor's office goes to Arthur Blank.
It was clear Wednesday this venture is personal for Blank, an avid soccer fan who got choked up talking about what the sport has meant to him and his family. He said he'll commit "whatever resources it's going to take" to put a winning product on the field, citing his history of spending up to the salary cap with the Falcons.
"We respond to our fans and put a winning team on the field, give back to the communities, respond in any way we can to put on a great game-day experience," Blank said. "We're going to do the same things for soccer here in Atlanta. There's nothing wrong with Atlanta fans. If we continue to do those things, we'll keep the drums beating."
