Real To Sell!

[MPoole]

Real's Stadium Falls Through, Owner Plans to Sell! (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=405538&cc=5901)

It says in the article that the owner would like to sell to a new owner in Salt Lake, but with no option for a stadium at this point I doubt there would be any takers. What are the chances that Real is playing in another city this comming season? What are Atlanta's chances? (Of course they would have to change the name, I will have a hard time supporting Real Atlanta)

[MPoole]

Just a side note, would changing the name Real to the Engish word Royal make it better for an American team? I am toying with the idea. Royal Atlanta isn't nearly as likely to make me vomit as Real Atlanta.

[Eleven Bravo]

I could handle Royal Atlanta.

Anything American-English is ok.


...but what i've heard is that if RSL leaves than they're going to Seattle.

[Eleven Bravo]

if the unimaginable did happen and RSL moved to Atlanta (and changed the name of course)...we'd do well as far as popularity right from the start with Adu playing.

[DavidP]

Reality check folks:

1) Who in Atlanta's gonna buy 'em (if you say Ted Turner I'll step on your sore foot (and if you don't have a sore foot I'll give you one :D ))? Can they have the cash by Friday (the possible sell date)?

2) Where are they gonna play? The only quick fix I can think of is to rip the track out of DMS/Hallford, and add 5,000 seat in the north endzone (or do something similar at Grady (Monroe Drive) but you'd have to find someplace to park). Herndon's too small (but probably the most likely stopgap), and people (the so-called neo-purists) would just die if they played at the Dome (or the Ted...). Can they get something in place by this time next year (or will a group of NIMBYs cause them to "disappear?")?

Unless there's a solid stadium plan beforehand, any transplant team would be in the same shape as RSL is now in a couple of years, giving all the Atlanta-phobe soccer dorks more fodder for their anti-Atlanta argument ("See? Told ya so! Atlanta's not a soccer town!"). As for the name, make it a complete rebrand, like 'Quakes/Dynamo. And for heaven's sake, no Euro-crap poser garbage (and no MLS skater/grunger singular-plural-noun-verbs either, for that matter). If you must keep the Real/Royal brand though, call 'em the Royals (or Kings, Monarchs, etc.).

I'd actually like to see it happen, and if somebody with some $$$ and a stadium plan could pop up fast, it'd be cool.

[DavidP]

I could handle Royal Atlanta.

Anything American-English is ok.


...but what i've heard is that if RSL leaves than they're going to Seattle.

To me, that would be a logical choice. Of course, they're in the same boat we are, no owner and no stadium, unless they play at Qwest or Safeco. Not to sound like a jerk, but where did you hear that? It's very interesting (not to mention a plausible possibility).

[Eleven Bravo]

To me, that would be a logical choice. Of course, they're in the same boat we are, no owner and no stadium, unless they play at Qwest or Safeco. Not to sound like a jerk, but where did you hear that? It's very interesting (not to mention a plausible possibility).

i THOUGHT i saw something about it on soccernet a few months back when the first time the deal was thought to collapse...but i'm too lazy to search for it.

[BigKahuna]

Can't say the thought hasn't crossed my mind, but as has been mentioned earlier, I don't think Atlanta would be ready to take the team without having a suitable stadium in place. Herndon would probably be the best option, but it'd take a lot of work to get it up to code.

Still, the only poential investor I've heard about is the Hardball Capial group. But I don't know the latest about their search. I'm going to try to email a few sports reporters in the city to see if they have heard anything about anything.

All-in-all, I'd say Atlanta is way down on the list of potential sites for a relocation.

[MPoole]

Can they have the cash by Friday (the possible sell date)?

My impression from the article was that Friday would be the earliest they could sell it, not that they were going to sell on Friday. I could be wrong though, I guess we'll see in three days :)

[Kaiser]

Checketts claimed that he could have a buyer by Friday, not that he did. I don't see a buyer out there. If there was a buyer from Seattle interested then they could easily get an expansion team with Toronto leaving MLS with an odd number of teams. All of the goings on in Salt Lake must be poturing because I can only see if there's no deal for a SSS then I'm afraid the league will contract RSL and go with 12 teams.

[jbeall]

I for one hope Atlanta joins MLS the right way, either through an expansion team or the S'Backs moving up. I'd hate to see it come as a result of a lot of heartbreak on the part of RSL's fans (who are great).

All the same, I realize these things do happen (last one out of San Jose please turn off the light), but I much prefer win-win situations to those where someone benefits from somebody else's loss.