Wrong foot for Blank’s soccer goal

Major League Soccer won’t be coming to Atlanta in 2011.

But Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who applied to the nation’s premier soccer league for a team in October, hasn’t ruled out trying to win a franchise to begin play possibly in 2013.

Kim Shreckengost, chief of staff for Blank’s business group, said Thursday that potential partners, including various metro Atlanta governments, couldn’t commit to a plan in time for the 2011 season.

But the sour economy is also to blame. Blank’s potential partners —- cities, counties and corporations —- are dealing with reduced revenues and job cuts. Spending millions on sports would likely raise howls from taxpayers and shareholders.

Even Blank’s foundation and business group laid off 10 percent of its workforce in November.

Major League Soccer announced in October that two teams would be added for the 2011 season. Atlanta and six other cities submitted bids.

An expansion decision is expected early this year. Miami and Vancouver are considered the front-runners. MLS didn’t return calls Thursday.

Soccer franchise fees run a reported $40 million. MLS also suggests bidders commit to a 20,000-seat soccer-specific stadium. Add adjoining ballfields, a sports complex and parking and another $80 million would reportedly be needed to win a franchise.

Local governments and companies would be expected to kick in tens of millions of dollars.

Kennesaw State University in northern Cobb County was considered a front-runner to land Blank’s team. The school owns a chunk of land across I-75 from the campus that could have been used by the school, county sports teams and MLS.

“In this economy, the discussions don’t make sense,” Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens said.

Wesley Wicker, executive director of the KSU Foundation that owns the land, said Thursday that “a number of meetings with the Blank group” last fall failed to resolve financial and scheduling issues.

Blank’s group told MLS in early December that “we didn’t think we’d be able to field a team in 2011,” Shreckengost said. “We didn’t feel we were far enough along with the discussions with various groups to make that commitment.”

She said the recession, and Blank’s layoffs, bore “no correlation” to the group’s delayed pursuit of a soccer franchise.