Definitely OT, but Yay! Major League Soccer names Atlanta as 22nd franchise, set for 2017 debut Here's hoping they name the new team the Atlanta Traffic.
Having just visited your fair city I can testify this is a very applicable name but probably not what Black is looking for. Plus weren't/aren't the Silverbacks owned by Traffic Sports?
The only thing I like about Atlanta is Varsity's Frost Orange....oh and throw in their fried peach pie as well.
Atlanta will do ok. It's the other three expansion teams that I think will be a disaster (NYCFC and the two Florida teams). Just today, there was an article indicating that NY will be playing at Yankee Stadium for at least three years instead of only their opening season as originally claimed. Folks in Florida aren't going to sit in the heat to watch an MLS match. They aren't even supporting most of the long "established" pro sports teams.
Living here and having the pleasure of meeting Mr. Blank (his kids and mine played for the same team/club) I can say it has a better chance than most may be giving it. He is familiar with soccer and obviously a very sharp business mind so I too hope you are wrong. It is a tough market, the WPS Atlanta Beat never had but a few (literally) attend games and the Silverbacks have not exactly sold out attendance either - both in very small venues - but the Silverbacks have been getting better numbers and again Mr. Blank has a proven track record so we are VERY hopeful for the MLS. He did say in yesterdays event that they will NEVER play on a football lined field so even though they announced it will be turf at least it will be properly marked.
...and at least they're not commissioning a new stadium for it; the new stadium is getting built for the Falcons anyway.
Orlando will do well. MLS' hands were tied a bit with Beckham choosing Miami (he was allowed to select/buy in an expansion team as per his contract with MLS). If it works, it will be great. As for Atlanta, forget about it. This will be one of the most insignificant franchises in MLS.
Despite what everyone tells you, an MLS expansion team in Atlanta will work I just live here. And whoa, I just saw this: "The team will share the new Falcons stadium, set to be finished in 2017, and both Garber and Blank mentioned how Atlanta's new stadium would be able to accomodate international events such as (hopefully) the World Cup..." Maybe in my lifetime. Wouldn't that be something.
I don't understand how New York and Miami will work. The Red Bulls have trouble getting a crowd and they have one of the best players of his generation and probably the best stadium in MLS, how will they draw a crowd at Yankee stadium? The Heat some times can't fill up their arena and people show up late to playoff games. No way will an MLS team work there. Also imagine an MLS game in July there?
I actually dont think miami is where it should be. i think they should be looking to move away from miami to hold their games instead of driving traffic into miami. getting people away from the hustle of the city as well as all the other competing things would be better.
This is obviously a discussion for another forum. But I think Orlando will be fine. Their USL team already draws very well and they have a new right sized stadium on the way. It's the grassroots growth that makes sense. Orlando is no hotter than DC or Houston or Dallas or probably KC, etc in the summer time. It's not like they necessarily have to play their matches at noon or anything. Unless some stupid TV contract requires them to play a lot of afternoon matches. Miami won't work. NYCFC was a stupid choice but Garber has been chasing that odd dream for years. NYRB just proves that putting a really nice stadium in the wrong place won't draw a big crowd. 3+ seasons on that little field in Yankee Stadium won't be fun for anyone.
Retractable roof and as such it would have not received enough sun light to grow grass. They did a feasibility study during design phases of the stadium and determined that it simply wouldn't work. The original 'plan' was to use real grass. Personally I would have required a design that would have provided an acceptable amount of sunlight for natural grass, but alas I do not have a billion dollars laying around like Mr. Blank.
Why not a system like they use in Arizona where the grass rolls in and out? (Or at least it did when that stadium first opened so I assume it still does)
Difference between the stadium in Glendale being on the edge of the city with plenty of space and the new Atlanta stadium being downtown where there isn't room to roll the field outside.
And the University of Phoenix stadium has a covered roof whereas a soccer stadium is more likely to be open to the sun and rain.