The location of the Atlanta stadium is a major plus for the franchise. The only thing which would make their chances of success even better is if they could lower the capacity even further. They should consider tarping even the lower bowl like Vancouver.
I think ATL will come off of the block with a bang. Not Seattle numbers but certainly not in the basement. We wont know true attendance numbers until 2019. Think about it this way... 2016- Copa America: ATL will surely get a game or two in the Dome which will have a WC like boost in interest, all be it not to the same magnitude. 2017 - First Year in MLS - Team will have the standard boom in attendance that any team has with a new team in a new stadium 2018 - World Cup: ATL will continue a high standard in attedance due to cheaper prices than Hawks/Falcons and that the Braves will be into Cobb Co. 2019 - This will be the year we will know. Gold Cup doesn't get anybody's pants wet, and unless the retention rate for the world cup band wagon jumps ten fold or the US gets to the Semis or Finals there won't be much of a "national movement" to push ticket numbers. Side Note 1, stepping outside of my ATL Fan box, there's a lot of potential for this franchise. over 11k tickets in the first 3 months with ZERO marketing. Side Note 2, These next four summers are going to be awesome!!! '15- Gold Cup, '16 - Copa America & Olympics, '17 - MLS ATL & Gold Cup, '18 - World Cup
If Arthur Blank and his team can bring in the right designated players, and the marketing is tip top....I could see them being around 30,000 a game for their first season. It's definitely possible (and realistically so).
According to yesterdays AJC they have 4430 founding members pledging 12, 700 season tickets. http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/pro-sports/atlantas-mls-team-benefiting-from-world-cup/ngcjR/
Really promising signs coming out of ATL lately. Imagine what mls would be like if NYCFC is a huge success and ATL becomes another Seattle.
Please don't. While this would be great and I honestly think Atlanta will surprise some people I'm confident we're not in position to pull bravado against the attendance standard bearers for the league. We should aspire and be thrilled with pulling in 20-25k, as that would be GREAT for the team and the league. If we can do better, wonderful, but let's also be able to celebrate an earnest achievement.
Best of luck Atlanta, I hope you prove all the nay-sayers wrong. I look forward to hosting you here in Seattle, just don't expect to leave with any points!
There is the 13k seat Henderson Stadium about 3 blocks west of the Dome, but there's no parking and the venue is very stripped down. Next best option would be 8k seat stadium at Kennesaw State in the northwestern suburbs. However the team/Blank have decided that it's best to take the time to build the organization slowly and then allow the new stadium to add to the splash. They don't want to start off using a sub-par venue and risk that experience turning off potential fans. Better to simply let enthusiasm simmer and then crank it up to 11 when the time is right.
Updated season ticket deposit numbers were included in the Press Release announcing our first team President (!!!). Right now there are 5,300 people who have place deposits to claim 15,500 seats. Just to put this in perspective, that is more than the average announced attendance at Hawks games.
Here is an article about the team President (Darren Eales). It does not mention the 15,500 number. It says over 14k http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/pro-sports/atlantas-mls-team-hires-tottenham-leader-as-presid/nhKGB/ Edit: here is the release that mentions 15,500 http://mlsatlanta2017.com/mls-atlanta-announces-darren-eales-as-club-president/
http://www.sbisoccer.com/2015/02/surpasses-announces-assignments.html ATLANTA SURPASSES 19,000 SEASON TICKETS
This is just such an unbelievable demand given how long it will be until Atlant actually plays a game. I wonder if after the team gets a name and a few stars if we'll see 40,000 season tickets.
If the name is really kick azz, I expect a run on deposits. If the name is terrible, I expect a run on tickets before the season starts. People in other parts of the country just don't understand. People play soccer here.
I predict they will hit 25k season tickets, thus having to open more of the stadium. Based on the buzz around the team before there's even an identity, I'd say 40k isn't unreasonable.