Rumor: Silverbacks Suspend Operations

nope...cant say that I have...although the group that blank is apart of just let some of its workforce go b/c of the economy...but it doesnt make much sense for the silverbacks to just suspend operations with a stadium they just built like 3 yrs ago i believe...

 

First I have heard of it.

The Silverbacks announced their ticket packages about a month ago so it would be a surprise.....unless, of course, the Silverbacks know what the MLS is going to decide.

 

Even if the Silverbacks are done, I don't buy any suggested MLS tie. Assuming the operations were solid, why would you just fold up shop when you have revenue streams and assets in the stadium (or expenses to amortize) just because MLS would begin play in 2.5 years?

There really is no reason to just cease operations on account of a yet to be confirmed MLS announcement if things were going acceptably well for the Backs. I'd be more inclined to think this would be a completely unrelated financial problem.

 

Obviously, Philly isn't ready with their new stadium, and Atlanta Silverbacks MLS is ready to go.

 

I wouldn't be surprised. We non-season ticket holders have a hard enough time finding out normal stuff about the 'Backs (games, etc.), so finding out third hand that they have folded would be just par for the course. I doubt it has anything to do with MLS. It sucks, though, seeing that Blank & Co. are laying people off, which may affect their MLS bid.

Oh well.

 

Damned economy!

 

so what are they gonna do with their stadium? i know they arent going to tear it down when it was just built in 06

 

I posted this somewhere else, but I doubt the Silverbacks will go away entirely. Boris can still make money with camps, leagues, tournaments, and other stuff at the complex. If the team has folded, I imagine the brand will remain, if only to promote the park.

 

I wish that were true, but seeing how Philly breaks ground on Dec. 1, I'm afraid that dog won't hunt. I know Atlanta MLS has nothing to do with the Silverbacks, but I'm already getting depressed thinking about all the "MLS won't work in Atlanta.....look at the Silverbacks!" posts that are sure to come in the following days. Sigh.......

 

Yeah, but when you throw the TO Lynx back at them, their argument won't wash. Besides, Houston's A-League team folded the day before the season started, or somthing like that in '95, and they've done well. Comparing USL and MLS is like comparing apples and cement plants.

 

Someone in the organization told me that the new WPS team will play there in 2010 and that some of the current players from the womens team will probably play with them. I wonder if Boris will sell the park to the local WPS owners.

 

It's funny how people have turned this argument almost into: BAD USL ATTENDANCE = GREAT MLS SUPPORT.

We've actually got only one road-tested data point on that with Toronto and Seattle may provide a second.

But those two scenarios don't mean that Atlanta wouldn't completely blow.

Maybe in Toronto it was the location of the lynx stadium or the marketing, maybe in Seattle it was the fact that the Sounders were in a second tier league. And maybe both teams benefited slightly, maybe just slightly by the Beckham bump?

So just because your USL team has terrible attendance (cough Miami), don't go thinking you are a great MLS prospect just cuz.

 

Nobody is. They are saying that there isn't any correlation.

 

http://www.atlantasilverbacks.com/news/displaynews.php?id=1046&cat=1

It has now been confirmed that the USL-1 mens side will sit out next season due to the economy and the prospect of MLS Atlanta.

The women's side and I would presume the PDL side will continue.

I read this as the ownership group knowing that they are making a loss, not being prepared to invest further capital knowing that MLS in Atlanta is a possibility, something that would make the Silverback continuing very unlikely.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe Arthur blank has any connection to the Silverbacks unlike other USL cities which are expansion candidates for MLS, where the existing owners are all part of the MLS bid.

 

Devastating.

 

Umm... 2.5k for a USL-2 team is pretty good. Actually started off under USL-2, only in 2nd division for the last two years. When you are USL-1 and pull the same amount, ie Toronto/Miami, then its a bit different. I think that shows very strong soccer support. I think we need a closer analysis of the Toronto situation before we definitely say USL doesn't matter at all.

 

This guy is retarded, Philly sucks!! On another note, I feeel bad for Atlanta USL, I was hoping they can get in the MLS so if Miami gets in there would be an instant rivalry. Don't worry Atlanta hopefully you'll be back 2010. Good Luck.

 

Not Atlantaphobic, are we?

It is an established fact that there is no correlation between USL attendance and MLS attendance, that's all I'm saying. Of course, getting great crowds in USL hopefully means you'll do even better in MLS.

 

Umm... thats not an established fact because that would involve proving that there is no correlation, which would involve more than 2 data points. There could be a correlation or there could not be, what we cannot establish is if there is one or the other because we don't have enough data. All I was saying was in response to a gentlemen saying Salt Lake didn't have good attendance in USL (quite the contrary in my believe for a USL-2 team) and opened with 16k for MLS. I pointed out Toronto and Miami to show that USL-1 teams pulled the same amount, showing that 2.5k is not bad absolutely, just relatively in those two cases.

And as my last line clearly pointed out, I said we need more info before we can establish if a correlation exists or not. You can't say one way or the other, I'm not afraid of anything. Its pure logic.

 

A lot of it has to do with perception, similar to Americans and Canadians who will watch EPL and Serie A, but turn up their nose at MLS. The Lynx didn't draw as well as the 'Backs, but TOFC has really set the woods on fire, so to speak. I imagine the same thing will happen with the Sounders. Montreal gets great crowds for the Impact, and hopefully that will translate into great crowds for an MLS team, when and if they get one. But just because a USL market has crappy attendance doesn't mean the MLS team they may get will suffer the same fate. In saying that it's an established fact, I mean simply that just about every USL market that ended up in MLS had a major jump in attendance. Everybody has already written Atlanta off (hence the Atlantaphobic remark) before we've even been given a chance. I'm just pointing out that other markets with crappy USL attendance are doing fine in MLS, and I think we will too, if we get the chance.

 

Arthur Blank has zilch connection to the Silverbacks ownership. The ASB ownership skimped on things for the entire time I followed the club ("the restaurant is going to be ready by the end of the season...I mean year...I mean decade. Hell, let's just sell 'em hot dogs.") Blank spent $550 million to buy the Falcons, so you know he's loaded. He also MADE THE FALCONS POPULAR.

The Silverbacks will probably keep all the leagues going because of the minimal expenses and huge interest. I honestly don't see the possibility of the USL-1 team ever coming back. The third-level minor league hockey team up the street is run way better, so I think it's just a matter of the economy claiming the weakest.

Side note: whoever suggested the WPS team would play there should check the capacity. It holds maybe 4,000 fans. Unless you at least double the seats, no WPS team will play there.

 

People who correlate USL and MLS attendance have neither compared the games. I saw David Beckham's first game in DC as my first live MLS game. The quality of play IS NOT EVEN CLOSE. Atlanta is a major league city, which is why the Force had such a hard time downtown. USL is not a league for top-tier cities. Put a USL team in Birmingham or Nashville and you've got a hit.

Everybody likes to write Atlanta off because of the Braves. A couple of Division Series games at 4 p.m. on a weekday don't sell out (Atlantans know why this is) and people act like nobody cares about sports here. We care plenty, but you gotta admit that baseball and soccer are the polar opposites of "ooh, that's neat to watch in person."

 

Why do you feel this way? I've coached and watched many football matches at DMS, always enjoyed the Game live, no matter who was playing.

I think sometimes we forget that it's often the beter clubs that we watch on TV, so the play is of higher quality and the matches are often more prestigious. hat doesn't mean that the Game itself is better televised than in person.