MLS ALIGNMENT
Eastern Conference
Chicago Fire
Columbus Crew
D.C. United
Houston Dynamo
Montreal Impact
New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls
Philadelphia Union
Sporting Kansas City
Toronto FC
Western Conference
Chivas USA
Colorado Rapids
FC Dallas
Los Angeles Galaxy
Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders FC
Vancouver Whitecaps
THINGS TO KNOW
Some questions answered in the FAQ at mlsatlanta2017.com:
Q: When will we find out which players are on the team?
A: Our technical staff will begin scouting players throughout the world in 2015. We will begin to construct our roster in 2016. MLS will conduct an expansion draft in December of 2016. We will begin to sign international players in late 2016. The MLS SuperDraft — where teams select college and international talent — will take place in January of 2017 in Los Angeles.
Q: What will be the capacity for MLS at the new stadium?
A: The seating capacity for the new stadium will be just over 29,000 seats.
Q: What is the timetable to hire a new GM or head coach?
A: We plan to hire a club president during the next few months. This individual will help us in planning for and building out our staff.
If the atmosphere announcing the team was any indication, Atlanta is going to enjoy its new MLS team in 2017.
With fans reciting soccer chants, owner Arthur Blank and league commissioner Don Garber flew in by helicopter — some would say an appropriate metaphor for major professional soccer’s re-entrance into football-mad Atlanta — with the hashtag #MLSATLANTA on its side.
Garber then officially welcomed Blank’s expansion team as the 22nd in MLS, handing him a red, white and black soccer ball and draping a red, white and gold scarf around his neck. The team colors will be red and black, with a gold accent.
“This has been a dream of ours,” Blank said to the more than 300 people in attendance, and 1,600 more who watched a simulcast outside.
After discussing why adding soccer was important to the city and the area’s businesses, Blank became emotional when discussing another reason he wanted a soccer team: his family, including a fiancee who he said was a soccer mom and a son who, when he first played, would lay on his stomach in the grass. Blank had to stop a few times as he discussed his family. Like a good goalkeeper, he followed with the perfect save.
“That’s what soccer is, it’s emotion,” Blank said.
The team will begin play in 2017 in the new $1.2 billion stadium that is scheduled to open that year.
The team has no name or logo. Blank said he prefers whatever name the fans — pointing to fan group Terminus Legion — decide. Founder Matt Stigall said he would like the logo to include a bird because a phoenix is on the city’s Atlanta’s crest. He also liked Olympic Atlanta in a reference to the city’s sporting past. There was no timetable on when those decisions will be made.
MLS to Atlanta wasn’t a surprise. Garber said Atlanta, because it was one of the 10 largest metro areas in the country, always was on his league’s radar.
Blank first expressed interest in owning an MLS team in 2004. Those discussions began to heat up last year after the stadium plans were finalized. Blank agreed to pay an expansion fee of $70 million for the franchise. That fee generally is paid by the first game.
Blank and Gerber cited several factors as to why they think MLS can work in Atlanta when previous franchises in previous sports (hockey’s Thrashers, soccer’s Chiefs) and leagues folded. Among them were: the increasing number of youth players in Atlanta (more than 100,000 players coaches and officials are registered with Georgia Soccer), the location and quality of the stadium and the growing Hispanic population.
“It has a rich sports tradition, it embodies what we call a new America, an America that’s blossoming with ethnic diversity, that’s really connected globally with young people who grew up with our game,” Garber said.
Mayor Kasim Reed added one more: leadership. He said the Falcons have succeeded because of Blank’s commitment to success.
“I didn’t approve a $1.2 billion stadium just before re-election for nothing,” Reed said. “If you put a winner on the field, people will respond to winning. That’s what’s going to happen here.”
Even before Reed’s comments, Blank pledged to the dozens of the chanting fans, most of them members of Terminus Legion, that he will hire the best people and commit whatever resources are necessary to make the team competitive and to provide the best atmosphere, prompting more cheers.
“We want to put a winning team on the field,” Blank said.
There will be some back-office crossover between the Falcons and the new soccer team. But Blank said the franchise will have its own president and other front-office staff members. The club already has a website (http://mlsatlanta2017.com).
Garber and Blank said that Atlanta likely wouldn’t have received a new franchise without a stadium that can accommodate soccer. The building will be constructed to accommodate the sport. The upper deck can be closed off with curtains, and the lower seats and be brought closer to the field to provide a more intimate feel for the smaller crowds that most MLS teams average.
The team will play on artificial turf, but Blank said grass will be brought on for international games and, he hopes, eventually a World Cup. Garber said the Georgia Dome wasn’t considered ideal to host a franchise.
“This will be big. You will be proud. MLS will be very, very successful in this city,” Garber said.
