Nobody's going to mention...

[El Guero Naco]

Tim Tucker's blurb in his Sports Business column on Page 2 of Sunday's AJC Sports section?

Or am I the only one who still reads the print copy?

[Visca...]

article's not online?

[Eleven Bravo]

Tim Tucker's blurb in his Sports Business column on Page 2 of Sunday's AJC Sports section?

Or am I the only one who still reads the print copy?

can you provide a link?

[El Guero Naco]

Right here, down at the bottom:

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/0723sptbiz.html

[BigKahuna]

Tim Tucker's blurb in his Sports Business column on Page 2 of Sunday's AJC Sports section?

Or am I the only one who still reads the print copy?

I've boycotted the AJC and cancelled my subscription. I hardly ever seen printed copies anymore so thanks for the heads-up.

[BigKahuna]

Here it is....

SOCCER CITY?

An Atlanta real-estate developer and a local attorney, partners in a group that owns two minor-league baseball teams, are looking into the possibility of bringing a Major League Soccer franchise to town.

"We're very interested, but we're really in the preliminary phase of looking at this," attorney Jason Freier said.

Freier and Barry Real Estate CEO Chris Schoen are partners in Hardball Capital, which has recently bought minor league baseball teams in Fort Wayne, Ind., and Salem, Va.

To have a shot at a Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchise for metro Atlanta, Freier said, he and Schoen first would have to find a way to build a 20,000-plus seat stadium, either in the city or the suburbs.

"Atlanta doesn't have anything approximating the kind of facility you need to house an MLS team," Freier said. "Finding an appropriate way to get such a facility built is the key.

"We at this point have spoken to some people around town who would be very interested in being part of a group that owns an MLS franchise and who agree with us that Atlanta is a natural market for the MLS in terms of demographics, in terms of youth soccer, in terms of the way Atlanta watched the World Cup on television. The next thing for us is trying to figure out if we can get a facility built and how and where that would be. We have started to have some of those [conversations] — very preliminary."

Freier said he and Schoen also have had preliminary discussions with the MLS, which has expressed an interest in expanding from 13 teams next season to 16 by 2010. "If we go to them with a firm ownership group and a plan to get a stadium built, I'm pretty confident the MLS would be excited about Atlanta," Freier said.

He added: "There is an awful lot that has to go right for this to work out. ... [But] we'd like to move things along as quickly as possible and see if it's something that can work out."

Freier's legal practice includes work in the sports field. Schoen's company's current projects include the Ivan Allen Plaza in downtown Atlanta.

[chelseacrew]

It's unbelivable in how fast MLS is growing and how many city/investors want in. We better be careful and be choosy or we will grow to fast and bite the dust.

[BigKahuna]

Wow...thats interesting stuff....good news indeed. I'm going to try a google search on these guys and attempt to contact them. If you guys hear anything else about this, let me know.

[Michael CM1]

I'm reposting this since I just noticed what this thread is about AFTER I put this in the Web site thread :)

Nice job on noticing Tim Tucker's tidbit about the group looking to bring MLS to town. This could give us two groups competing for an MLS team. EXCELLENT news bro. As far as a stadium for the second group, here's a brilliant idea if you have deep pockets:

Tear down Gwinnett Place Mall. Yep, you heard it. I think at least one of the anchor stores has left anyways. Tear it down and build something like Bridgeview. Putting in about 10 practice/rec fields and maybe a green park would add some much-needed park space and rec league fields. Then do a small Atlantic Station style housing/office/etc. development around a 20,000-seat stadium. The Gwinnett Transit hub is right in this area. Therefore anybody on the Gwinnett bus line could take a bus to see the games. It would also be accessible by the MARTA system as well.

Thinking about this makes me salivate considering how darn good of an idea it is. There's already going to be a group doing something similar with the vacated shopping center across the street where Target and Office Depot used to be. 316/I-85 is getting upgraded. If you can find people with the money, why the heck not?

[Eleven Bravo]

Wow...thats interesting stuff....good news indeed. I'm going to try a google search on these guys and attempt to contact them. If you guys hear anything else about this, let me know.

once you get you an address...please, post it.

[Eleven Bravo]

I'm reposting this since I just noticed what this thread is about AFTER I put this in the Web site thread :)

Nice job on noticing Tim Tucker's tidbit about the group looking to bring MLS to town. This could give us two groups competing for an MLS team. EXCELLENT news bro. As far as a stadium for the second group, here's a brilliant idea if you have deep pockets:

Tear down Gwinnett Place Mall. Yep, you heard it. I think at least one of the anchor stores has left anyways. Tear it down and build something like Bridgeview. Putting in about 10 practice/rec fields and maybe a green park would add some much-needed park space and rec league fields. Then do a small Atlantic Station style housing/office/etc. development around a 20,000-seat stadium. The Gwinnett Transit hub is right in this area. Therefore anybody on the Gwinnett bus line could take a bus to see the games. It would also be accessible by the MARTA system as well.

Thinking about this makes me salivate considering how darn good of an idea it is. There's already going to be a group doing something similar with the vacated shopping center across the street where Target and Office Depot used to be. 316/I-85 is getting upgraded. If you can find people with the money, why the heck not?

what about purchasing the Re-Max and then expanding on to it?

[Michael CM1]

When I saw the term "real estate developer", I figure this guy has wide-eyed bushy-tailed plans like I do. The Max is going to be quite an excellent stadium. The problem it has is space for extras. First of all, how in the hell are you going to manage traffic if 15-20,000 fans went to a game at that location? There is only one entrance/exit possible for that location. You aren't going to displace a subdivision of 100 people or 2 major interstates. :) The rec leagues at SBP are also highly popular and I know a large-scale youth system would do wonders in the area.

Hence my whole "damn the torpedos!" idea. Gwinnett Place Mall reminds me a lot of where my grandmother used to live in Boaz, AL. The main outlet center used to be filled with all of these stores that had huge business. Now the main section is nearly empty and the outer stores are what keep the area going. GPM is following a similar path. There are plenty of new developments going around it but the mall itself has suffered for numerous reasons. Read the short Wikipedia blurb:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwinnett_Place_Mall

I don't go there any more because the Mall of Ga. and Discover Mills have better stores. It's also more of a beeotch to get there because Pleasant Hill Road has been maintained like a bastard child.

So basically it's a huge pipe dream that just came into my head. As I said, another developer is putting in a mini-Atlantic Station across the street. Duplicate that effort around a stadium and the area could get some much-needed revitalization. If these dummies that live around here would ever let the MARTA rail go north, it would basically run right through the darn thing. The county bus line already centers there. Add in the whole concert schtick that all these other SSS developments are doing and people would buy into it.

OK, who's going to loan me $500 million so I can break ground?

[BigKahuna]

Definately an optimistic vision, MCM...I was also wondering what options they were considering. I don't think Re-Max is suitable for MLS...or ever will be. Like was mentioned, it is a logistical nightmare with 3000 people, much less 20000. For it to work, they'd have to get rid of the neighborhood which would be damn near impossible.

I still would like to see if anyone could tear down Herndon and make that location work...all I really want is a stadium walking distance from a MARTA station so I can get obliderated at the games and ride the train back home.

[BigKahuna]

once you get you an address...please, post it.

I'll have to email Tim Tucker about it.

ttucker@ajc.com <ttucker@ajc.com>

[Eleven Bravo]

Definately an optimistic vision, MCM...I was also wondering what options they were considering. I don't think Re-Max is suitable for MLS...or ever will be. Like was mentioned, it is a logistical nightmare with 3000 people, much less 20000. For it to work, they'd have to get rid of the neighborhood which would be damn near impossible.

I still would like to see if anyone could tear down Herndon and make that location work...all I really want is a stadium walking distance from a MARTA station so I can get obliderated at the games and ride the train back home.

Having the stadium next to MARTA could definately be the difference in averaging 3,000 fans from 10,000+.

Also, i hope they build the stadium next to a bunch of condos so that fans will just be within walking distance of the stadium. say, the stadium owner getting a deal with the condo for discounts for people living at that location.

[Michael CM1]

Definately an optimistic vision, MCM...I was also wondering what options they were considering. I don't think Re-Max is suitable for MLS...or ever will be. Like was mentioned, it is a logistical nightmare with 3000 people, much less 20000. For it to work, they'd have to get rid of the neighborhood which would be damn near impossible.

I still would like to see if anyone could tear down Herndon and make that location work...all I really want is a stadium walking distance from a MARTA station so I can get obliderated at the games and ride the train back home.

I don' think Herndon would be a good idea at all. It's too boxed in and it's not exactly in the greatest part of town. There's not much parking around there and the MARTA walk, while fairly short, would probably be too far to convince many suburbanites. I also don't think the international community is as concentrated there as it is in areas like Norcross. I have no stats to give you on that...just an observation.

If anybody wanted to put a stadium near the Gwinnett Arena or up farther north towards Buford they could. The problem there is what I just mentioned: you're getting farther away from a lot of people.

[BigKahuna]

I don' think Herndon would be a good idea at all. It's too boxed in and it's not exactly in the greatest part of town. There's not much parking around there and the MARTA walk, while fairly short, would probably be too far to convince many suburbanites. I also don't think the international community is as concentrated there as it is in areas like Norcross. I have no stats to give you on that...just an observation.

If anybody wanted to put a stadium near the Gwinnett Arena or up farther north towards Buford they could. The problem there is what I just mentioned: you're getting farther away from a lot of people.

Points about the downside of Herndon are well taken, but some additional things to consider are that since the area isn't exactly a great neighborhood and considering that the college (is it Morris Brown?) financially destroyed, someone could get a good deal on the facilty. It obviously isn't a great stadium but the land could be used to build a new one. Parking isn't an issue...its right next door to the GA Dome. I'm just a big fan of having these stadiums as close to city centers as possible in order to be accessible to the most people.

[danielbarrientos]

Create other team in Atlanta City, because the Atlanta Silverbacks is the worst team in the world !:rolleyes:

[Eleven Bravo]

it'd be nice if mr. real estate could get a stadium close to the interstate and in midtown. with the trump towers plus all the other condos in that area, including marta, and if they could get it right off(or close to) the interstate than that would be the best location.

question is are they willing to fork out the big bucks for the best location?

[Michael CM1]

Create other team in Atlanta City, because the Atlanta Silverbacks is the worst team in the world !:rolleyes:

No, they just lose to the worst team in the world (Toronto Lynx).