Will metro Atlanta get a Major League Soccer franchise in the next few years?

MLS is interested in putting a team here, saying it sees Atlanta as a "tremendous" potential market that would expand the league's footprint into the Southeast.

And Falcons owner Arthur Blank's organization, AMB Group, is interested in bringing a team here, saying it is doing "a tremendous amount of due diligence" to see "if it makes sense."

The league and Blank's organization said "exploratory" discussions will continue in the months ahead, but both said it's too early to predict whether the process will lead to a team.

One thing is clear: To get a team, a new 20,000-or-so-seat soccer stadium would have to be built in the metro area, a project that most likely would entail public funding.

Major League Soccer, founded in 1996, is the nation's top men's pro league. Fourteen teams are spread from New York to Los Angeles. The league will add teams in Seattle and Philadelphia in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and plans further expansion by 2012.

The league says future franchises will cost $40 million apiece, necessitating deep-pocketed owners, such as Blank.

Blank is approaching the MLS possibility as "a very serious endeavor," said Dick Sullivan, one of two AMB Group executives leading the process. The Blank group has looked at land for a stadium in "about six" metro-Atlanta counties, Sullivan said, and last month met with MLS commissioner Don Garber and president Mark Abbott in New York.

"It is far too early to speculate on what will develop," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said it's also too early to narrow the focus for a stadium to a county or municipality. The earliest a stadium could be ready, he said, likely would be 2012.

For its part, MLS finds Atlanta appealing.

"We believe Atlanta can be a tremendous market for a Major League Soccer team," said Dan Courtemanche, the league's senior vice president of marketing and communications. "First and foremost, it's a very diverse market ... and clearly a strong market for soccer participation. ... And Arthur Blank's group is a tremendous group, no question there. We think they would be a perfect group to expand the MLS presence south of Washington, D.C."

He said Atlanta's advantages also include it being a top-10 TV market and headquarters to potential corporate sponsors.

On the other hand, metro Atlanta lacks a soccer stadium that would meet MLS standards.

"That would probably be the biggest challenge, an appropriate venue," Courtemanche said. "There is not currently an appropriate venue for a Major League Soccer team [in Atlanta] —- no disrespect to the Georgia Dome, which is a great venue for the Falcons."

Ideally, Sullivan said, an 80-acre to 100-acre site could contain an MLS stadium, parking lots and soccer fields for local leagues and regional tournaments. He said the project might be tied to a larger economic development initiative.

"Undoubtedly, it would be some version of public/private partnership," Sullivan said.

The stadium could cost $80 million to $120 million, based on other MLS facilities built in recent years. Most have involved considerable public funding.

An 18,500-seat, $115 million stadium is to be built in Chester, Pa., for Philadelphia's expansion team. About $55 million in state and county money has been committed.

Blank's group is the only potential owner with whom MLS is in discussions about an Atlanta franchise, Courtemanche said.

An existing Atlanta pro soccer team, the Silverbacks, plays in the United Soccer League First Division, which ranks behind MLS on the American soccer pyramid. The team plays at Atlanta Silverbacks Park, near the intersection of I-85 and I-285.

Courtemanche said other cities interested in an MLS expansion team are Las Vegas, Montreal, Portland, San Diego, St. Louis, Vancouver and, "to a lesser degree," Miami. There also is interest in a second New York team.

Blank, who owns the Georgia Force of the Arena Football League as well as the NFL's Falcons, wasn't available for comment. In an earlier interview, he expressed enthusiasm about exploring the MLS possibility.

Asked why Blank would want to add a third team to his portfolio, Sullivan said: "He is a competitor at heart, and he believes this does play to our core strengths —- the understanding and management of sports. ... He loves to bring great sports and arts to our town."

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

> What: Top pro soccer league in the U.S. is in its 13th season.

> Teams (14): Chicago, Columbus, Washington, Kansas City, New England, New York and Toronto in the Eastern Conference; Colorado, Dallas, Houston, two Los Angeles teams, Salt Lake City and San Jose in the Western Conference. Expansion teams in Seattle and Philadelphia will begin play in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

> Players: Represent 49 countries, with about two-thirds of the player pool U.S.-born, according to the league. English megastar David Beckham plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco for Chicago, American standout Landon Donovan for the Galaxy and all-time MLS goals leader Taylor Twellman for New England.

> Season: Teams play 30-game schedules from late March through October, followed by the MLS Cup playoffs.

> Attendance: The league says it averaged 16,504 per game last year.

> Stadiums: Eight of the 14 teams play in stadiums built since 1999, specifically for pro soccer. Most were built with a combination of public and private funding. Four more are under construction or planned.

> Owners: MLS is structured as a single-entity company so that club operators own a financial stake in the entire league, not just their individual teams. MLS has several owners who also own other high-profile sports franchises: Robert Kraft, who owns the NFL's New England Patriots; the Hunt family, which owns the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs; Stan Kroenke, who owns the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and part of the NFL's St. Louis Rams; and Lew Wolff, who owns baseball's Oakland Athletics.

> Television: National TV deals with ABC/ESPN, Univision, HDNet, Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Espanol.

> Finances: MLS does not reveal financial information, although BusinessWeek reported in 2004 that the league had lost more than $350 million since its founding. New stadiums and TV deals might brighten the fiscal outlook. The league says a key to profitability for a team is to control its own venue. The league began receiving rights fees for its national telecasts for the first time last year.

Source: Major League Soccer; staff research