Why does Atlanta have its own sub-forum

[joehooligan0303]

Am I missing something. I have heard nothing about the possiblity of Atlanta getting a MLS team. St. Louis has been mentioned way more and still doesnt have its own sub-forum. Can someone fill me in on Atlanta's chances of getting a team.

[Eleven Bravo]

quit being a ********ing ********y.

[jbeall]

Am I missing something. I have heard nothing about the possiblity of Atlanta getting a MLS team. St. Louis has been mentioned way more and still doesnt have its own sub-forum. Can someone fill me in on Atlanta's chances of getting a team.

Go read Don Garber's recent interview on mlsnet.com. He mentions Atlanta as a strong candidate, esp. since the South is a well-populated regions without an MLS franchise.

As to why Atlanta has a sub-forum and St. Louis doesn't... well, a bunch of us asked for one. If you guys want one, too, quit complaining about our forum and go get one! :)

[Eleven Bravo]

for real, i swear it just kills people that Atlanta has a forum. i want to know why it bothers people so much why Atlanta is a candidate for MLS.

[joehooligan0303]

Hey guys I am not a St. Louis fan. Actually I live only 4 hrs from Atlanta. I wasnt questing anything I was just asking for clearification. I am completely in favor of Atlanta getting an MLS team, so settle down. I am not attacking anybody, I just hadnt heard any real true news about Atlanta being a possible MLS destination.

I thought maybe I had missed some news.

[BigKahuna]

Hey guys I am not a St. Louis fan. Actually I live only 4 hrs from Atlanta. I wasnt questing anything I was just asking for clearification. I am completely in favor of Atlanta getting an MLS team, so settle down. I am not attacking anybody, I just hadnt heard any real true news about Atlanta being a possible MLS destination.

I thought maybe I had missed some news.

Fair enough...but all the news is in the threads here. Basically, Garber mentioned in his 20 questions a strong desire to find something here. From the context, it was clear to me that MLS would love to do it. The question is whether or not its feasible and thats why the members here requested a forum...so we can discuss it without the haters giving us trouble.

[jbeall]

Sorry if you thought we were ganging up on you, but we've had some nasty, wicked trolls who've flamed Atlanta-philes on earlier threads. See the really long thread in this forum if you have several hours to kill. I distinctly remember going out of my way to be nice to one troll who kept responding with rude, asinine posts.

Basically, the bigsoccer mods want one thread per city/team on the MLS: Expansion forum, so they merged three wholly distinct threads into one, effectively killing them all. We all protested, and so they gave us our own forum. This keeps the multiple Atlanta conversations separate, and keeps the MLS Expansion threads relatively free of clutter. Win-win, basically.

I can't comment on what kind of interest exists on bigsoccer for St. Louis, Phoenix, Detroit, etc., but all I CAN tell you is that we specifically asked for a sub-forum. Welcome to special-interest group politics on bigsoccer!! :)

[BigKahuna]

joe, here's why we are excited about this and why we have a forum:


http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20060410&content_i d=55957&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

Here's the excerpt

Peter F. in Provo, Utah: I loved the 2005 season. Will we see any more expansion teams for the 2007 MLS season?

Don Garber: I understand expansion questions accounted for more than 30 percent of all questions and I'll answer it first from a global perspective and then touch upon the many markets our fans asked about when submitting questions.

First, we'll be adding Toronto as the 13th MLS team in 2007. We'll have an official announcement in Toronto soon that will provide more details, but we're very excited about the opportunity in Canada.

Second, it is my understanding we received many questions about San Jose and the Bay Area. It is our intention to bring Major League Soccer back to the Bay Area with a new expansion team as early as possible. You may have read that we are in discussions with Oakland A's co-owner and managing general partner Lew Wolff about purchasing the rights to an expansion team in the Bay Area. We are continuing those discussions and hope to be able to announce more details soon.

As for the other cities that many of you asked about, we have had significant interest across the country. In fact, we regularly receive cold calls from potential investors looking at MLS expansion. This is not something that was occurring even a few years ago. Here's a brief overview on each market:

Philadelphia: Philadelphia is a market we've always wanted to be in, but we did not have a suitable home for an MLS team. We recently announced that we have entered into an exclusive negotiating period with Rowan University as the potential site of a soccer-specific stadium and an MLS team. Rowan is located about 20 miles outside of Philadelphia in Southern New Jersey. The president of the university looked at The Home Depot Center as the model for what they want to do at Rowan. There is still work to be done, but our plan is to have a team playing at the new stadium in Rowan in 2009.

St. Louis: Another great soccer market ... we continue to have discussions with a few potential owners for an expansion team in St. Louis, and each prospective owner realizes that a soccer-specific stadium is needed to bring an MLS team to the area.

The Southeast: Many of you asked about Atlanta and we had multiple questions about Cary, North Carolina and Orlando. We're intrigued by Atlanta and the market's growing Hispanic population. We've also had discussions in Atlanta about soccer-specific stadiums since there is currently not an appropriate home for an MLS team. We are not in serious discussions with a potential owner in Atlanta but we continue to look at the market for the future. We hear great things about Cary (N.C.) and the Raleigh-Durham area, but we are not in discussions with a potential owner for that market. It is great to see how fast the U.S. vs. Jamaica match sold out.

[joehooligan0303]

Thanks for all the info guys. I was actually hoping for a little more solid news when I saw this sub-forum. After reading the above I think I have the opposite reaction as some of you. I dont think it sounds too postive. It just sounds like if the MLS execs had their way they would put a team in Atlanta, but as of right now they have absolutely no leads for a SSS or an owner.

[Michael CM1]

Thanks for all the info guys. I was actually hoping for a little more solid news when I saw this sub-forum. After reading the above I think I have the opposite reaction as some of you. I dont think it sounds too postive. It just sounds like if the MLS execs had their way they would put a team in Atlanta, but as of right now they have absolutely no leads for a SSS or an owner.

Don't get your hopes down. Real Salt Lake came out of nowhere. There are also going to be some changes to the "competition format" next year from what it sounds like so maybe that will re-energize potential owners. As I said before, Garber wants an 18-team league by 2016 and going on those comments it looks like Atlanta would be #17 in the pecking order. Don't forget that Kansas City's situation hasn't been resolved yet.

[jbeall]

Actually, this came up on the merged thread. It would be a MUCH more positive sign if Garber and MLS were talking with the Silverbacks' owner. For better or worse, the S'backs are the soccer establishment in Atlanta, and it makes a lot more sense to speak with them.

I still believe that Atlanta will eventually enter MLS, but I'm worried that without the collaboration/cooperation of the S'backs, it'll be later rather than sooner.

Still, Garber knows that this is a big region of the country, and it's a great idea to have a regional satellite team. If MLS wants to become a national pasttime, they need to have a presence in every region that can support a team, and this means expanding into both the South and Pacific Northwest. Although Charlotte or Nashville might (and I'm sure y'all can think of many reasons why NOT) be good expansion candidates, Atlanta has the largest population, is the most developed, and is the largest media market, so I suspect that of all the southern cities, Atlanta's the most prominent on MLS's radar.

[Michael CM1]

Actually, this came up on the merged thread. It would be a MUCH more positive sign if Garber and MLS were talking with the Silverbacks' owner. For better or worse, the S'backs are the soccer establishment in Atlanta, and it makes a lot more sense to speak with them.

I still believe that Atlanta will eventually enter MLS, but I'm worried that without the collaboration/cooperation of the S'backs, it'll be later rather than sooner.

Still, Garber knows that this is a big region of the country, and it's a great idea to have a regional satellite team. If MLS wants to become a national pasttime, they need to have a presence in every region that can support a team, and this means expanding into both the South and Pacific Northwest. Although Charlotte or Nashville might (and I'm sure y'all can think of many reasons why NOT) be good expansion candidates, Atlanta has the largest population, is the most developed, and is the largest media market, so I suspect that of all the southern cities, Atlanta's the most prominent on MLS's radar.

I just read a story in one of these threads that made me think I was really wrong about their MLS intents. If so, that's extremely good news since it also said they're about to start a "massive" ad campaign.

Just FYI Atlanta is the 2nd largest media market unless I'm mistaken. I think Miami is a little larger. But once again, I could have that confused with newspaper circulation. I know the Miami Herald circulates more than the AJC.

I hope that eventually there are two MLS teams in the region so a nice rivalry could develop like the Falcons and Saints did when they were pretty much the only football teams around not named the Dolphins.

[jbeall]

Yeah, but Miami's not really in the South, ya know! :cool:

I remember FIFA '98 on my old Playstation, with the made-up American league. Atlanta (whose kits looked like Celtic's) and Miami (who looked like Inter Milan) were regional rivals. If you booted up a match between those two teams, the announcer would always say "There's no love lost between these two teams!"

And then, inevitably, one of their players would get red-carded after injuring one of my players. Ahhhh, memories of a wasted youth!!!! :D

[Georgia Empire]

Atlanta and a Florida team would make instant rivals. it would be great. just like UGA and Florida.

[footfetish]

Atlanta and a Florida team would make instant rivals. it would be great. just like UGA and Florida.

except not nearly as drunken a rivalry...

:D

[Georgia Empire]

hell, go with this rule first three beers are free. that'll attract some people.