Haters gonna hate.... Watch the announcement and tell me that you still believe that Blank won't care about this franchise. The man was getting choked up talking about it. I don't see this man putting out a sorry product. Also, this will be a world class stadium DESIGNED FOR MLS!!!! That has been emphasized a million times... This is not just Falcons stadium... This will be the Falcons/MLS's stadium. I believe you can respect that from his emotional promise of no football lines on the field. That said, Blank isn't an idiot, and he's not going to invest in a loser... The man wants to win and he wants to put a quality product on the field. In all honesty, I could see under Blank having the ability to becoming a flagship franchise. But more importantly, say what you will, but you have no idea what a positive direction this will be for the sport in this country. I'm baffled by posters who say Garber is only after TV dollars because they know that the Atlanta team will be one of the most watched teams in the league. Look, this is not just Atlanta's team... This is not just Georgia's team... This will be the South's team! What does that mean? For starters, we have now effectively incorporated fans from not just from Georgia, but from MS, LA, NC, TN, AL, SC, and northern Florida. Fans from these states are lining up and showing their support. Fans are tuning in and buying into the league now. Kids from this area now have something to look up to... And while people talk crap about the Braves, there is a reason why the Braves are the third most recognizable brand in MLB. And it's because they have embraced that this is the South's team. To sum up, the south is going to support a southern team unitedly. We have not tuned in despite our thirst to because there has been nobody to identify with. Now, it's Atlanta and the South, the country's most culturally distinct region, vs the Rest of the Country! Look out! We're coming and we're going to kick some butt and take some names Woo!
I watched the press conference and came impressed with Blank. He seems like a genuine fella from the same old neighborhood Garber grew up in Flushing. Also, he said I don't like to lose at anything which is why he didn't become a billionaire my accident.
By all accounts Blank is a good man and we've been thrilled with him as the owner of the Falcons. That team had never had back-to-back winning seasons until he took over. 30+ years of mediocrity for the city's only native franchise. With a leader like that I suspect support will grow and he'll treat the team right.
no, it's being referred to as 'New Falcons Stadium" https://www.google.com/#q=new+falcons+stadium no football lines isn't a big deal considering it's played on TURF, they just wash them off, paying a crew to do that is the easy thing. Watching the game and twice as long recovery time for the athletes is the big deal. this league keeps doing things wrong. they want to be a top league by 2020 or whatever, they better first concentrate on being the best league in North America. instead of growing from the top down, it should be bottom up
you know, this is kind of like NHL expansion in the 90's., rapid growth, an effort to expand into non-trad markets like the southwest, texas, southeast, it worked in Dallas for the NHL, for whatever reason it just did, but for every Dallas there are 6 Phoenixes, Carolinas, Miami's, Tampa's, Atlanta's (now Winnipeg), et al. when that team wins a Stanley Cup instead of Detroit or Boston where a parade with 2.5million to 3million people line the streets they have a ''rally'' in their parking lot with 18,000, the same 18,000 that attended the game. And the next year season tix go up, only to revert back down in subsequent years after the shine has worn off. Seattle may be MLS's Dallas but it doesn't mean it'll work everywhere. The only positive thing is that there seems to be a stigma attached to some of the 96ers like Cols, Dallas, that doesn't fade away and maybe the hipness of MLS in 2014 will help Miami and Atlanta do well. But I'll believe that when I actually see it. Especially considering Miami already had a team and neither city is a strong sports market. I mean did you catch opening day this year at Marlins stadium? Year 2 and they can't even sell out opening freaking day! Yeah, great sports town indeed.
For what it's worth, I don't care if Atlanta won every single NHL championship in the history of the NHL. I have no connection to that sport and would never care to attend a hockey game unless someone dragged me to it. So does that mean I'm not going to buy season tickets for the Atlanta MLS franchise? People prefer didn't sports. All that needs to be proven is that there is a sufficient fan base... Any city with millions of people in America pass this test. It's a matter of logistics and team management after that.... Point is that it is flawed logic to say who is and who is not a good sports town. Very few towns are awesome in supporting all the big five sports. If the management of any team sucks then the fans aren't going to show up. If the owners are good, they'll get butts in the seats. Now, there are harder sales... Such as getting people from Georgia to embrace a cold weather sport. In short, there aren't good or bad sports markets... Only good and bad management. I refer you to KC for proof.
Tampa Bay was 10th in attendance this season, has been top half of the league the past three seasons, and was 2nd in the league the season after they won the Stanley Cup. Try again.
well, you're obviously biased as you must be a local and Silverback fan. My point regarding the NHL expansion is valid. I'm sure there's plenty of good ol' boys who think the same of that wussy sport where they're diving all the time just like you do of hockey. and no, not all US Cities are created equal when it comes to the landscape of pro sports. You mean you don't really see the difference between a Boston or Detroit where people tend to stay and root for the local team and a Phoenix, LA, Miami, Atlanta with many people having come from all over the country (weather, escape rust belt) and stick to their teams? there are plenty of major metro areas know for not being passionate about their local teams and sorry, ATL and Miami are two of those, to deny that is silly. Look at that brand new Marlins stadium and all the empty seats. surly there's already experience with MLS in FLA on that front with 2 failures. the only thing is MLS 2014 is hip so maybe that'll help. We'll see where we are after the shine wears off.
No, your point is not valid. Yes, there are good ol' boys that think the same way as he does about hockey, however there are also hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of people playing soccer while there might be hundreds playing hockey. That matters. Nobody down here can identify with hockey because the climate is not right for it, the only ice we see comes out of a freezer. On any given day I can find a pickup game if I want to play some soccer, I can't do that if I wanted to play hockey. Apples and oranges.