I would love to see a MLS team here in the south. Atlanta is a youth soccer hotbed so hopefully it will be considered in the future!
I spent 5 years in Atlanta in the early 90s, so my experience is a little more dated. However, I recall the claims of "worst pro sports city in America" weren't all that unfounded. If they can't support an NBA franchise, EITHER NHL franchise, or a VERY succesful baseball team, why should Garber expect an MLS team to catch fire?
Thats true, and the skeptics have a right to object but I think it isn't about the fans in Atlanta but rather the product on the field. If a clever owner/GM came to Atlanta and showed an honest effort to win it all (like the Falcons owner, and unlike the Braves and Hawks) instead of settling for second best every year I think the fans will support soccer here. The tough part will be getting a good location. Atlanta is so huge it'll be hard to be close to the soccer fans in the in northern and southern suburbs.
i would love to have mls in atlanta, but i dont think its the right time right now. there have been countless threads on this subject of mls to atlanta. mls is looking for i/o and a stadium. we have a stadium in the works right now, should be open for the 2006 season. the practice fields are already in use for tournaments and local team games. it is suppose to be a 5,000 seat stadium but it can be expanded but i dont know if it has the capability to be expanded to 20,000 maybe 15,000-16,000 but im not sure about 20,000. i think that mls should wait and see how well the attendance goes up for the atlanta silverbacks when they move out of the shithole they are in now and move into the stadium. if they do well and attendance goes up then they should think about investing in the atlanta market. atlantasilverbacks.com atlantasilverbackspark.com they are pictures of the park and stadium plans on these 2 websites.
S'cuse me? The Thrashers have very good support. The Hawks suck, and the Braves get great crowds, considering that most Atlantans are not from here and thus still support their old "home" teams. As for comparing MLS with other sports, it's comparing apples and dump trucks. Having said all that, I would petition the moderator to prohibit further "MLS in Atlanta" threads. I get tired of seeing our town maligned. Atlanta will not get MLS until we have a) an owner, and b) a stadium. Neither will happen in our lifetimes, so all you Atlantaphobes have nothing to fear. Besides, doesn't this take away from your rant on all MLS teams being named FC This, or Racing That, or Lokomotiv Something Else, or some other Eurocentric name that means nothing over here? BTW: The Flames got good support, but didn't have a decent local TV contract and got little national TV money. The owner was quoted to have said "We could have sold out every night and still lost money." And G-Pleasa: this post is in no way directed at you. Welcome to the board. But if you had seen the venom and vitriol spewed in the countless thousands of other "MLS in Atlanta" threads, your trigger finger would be a little itchy too.
We dont need to measure the support other sports have, but what support the Silverbacks have etc. Most of the support would be in the suburbs. I dont think we're ready, although i would buy season tickets.
Well, the 'Backs have an interesting and peculiar situation going on. They may be on the verge of "breakout," what with the new digs going up and all, but they must do a better job of marketing and promotion. They used to be somewhere around the middle of the attendance table, but they fell out dramatically until last year (they're still closer to the bottom than the top). They finally have some semblance of financial stability in Jerkunica and Co., but even the current administration have made some bonehead plays in the past few years that have significantly hurt them (they are doing better, though). I'm not the fan I was a few years ago because of some the past "sins" of the organization, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt in the coming years. But I'm still not ready yet to buy season tix, or make multiple 60-mile round trippers a season.
the atlanta silverbacks are starting to really grow as an organization. 1. stadium to be ready for the 2006 season (5,000 seats (expanable), 2 practice fields, pool, tennis courts) 2. addition of new youth and adult camps 3. W-league team for the 2005 season 4. Recently bought Gwinett Indoor Areana (hopefully a MISL team for the 2006 season) 5. Signed contracts with Club Athletico Independiente of Argentina and Inter Milan of Italy to exchange youth and professional players, coaches, marketing tactics, and merchandising 6. a 38.5% increase in attendance this past season (the largest % gain in the a-league) the atlanta silverbacks are on the right path but it still i hard to determine if a mls team would be sucessful in atlanta. i think that once the stadium(s) are open and attendance continues to grow, then mls should consider expanding to atlanta. atlanta probably will be ready by the time that 2009-2010 (about that time) expansion comes. GO' BACKS!
Win the USL First Division then get back to us. Good luck in the 2005 season and in that new stadium. S'Backs are doing things right in Atlanta.
I hope you're not thinking that they bought the big arena at the Gwinnett Civic Center! What they bought was a former sports academy in Suwanee, if it's the one I'm thinking about. It does have a nice indoor area, but it's not big enough to support MISL. The one at the Civic Center, on the other hand, would be, and I wonder if something like that might be in the works, especially since the ABA team that was supposed to have played there didn't pan out.
no i know they didnt buy the gwinett civic center, thats why i said that they bought the gwinett indoor arena, 2 totally different places. i have never been to the arena so i dont know how big it is. misl was just the first thing that popped into my head when i red they bought a indoor complex. with the way the silverbacks are going right now i wouldnt be surprised if they got a misl team within the next few years though.
I think MISL would be a good fit in the Gwinnett CC arena. It seats about 11-13000 for hockey. I've not been there either, but I hear it's nice. I just wish MISL would go back to the original rules from back in the 70s; those goals seem awful big to me.
oh here we go again with this joke... atlanta would draw decent the first few weeks, and even if they were winning, they'd be down to a 4K average by season's end an awful dreadful sports town unless you are selling sec football PERIOD
I think MISL would be a good fit in the Gwinnett CC arena. It seats about 11-13000 for hockey. I've not been there either, but I hear it's nice. I just wish MISL would go back to the original rules from back in the 70s; those goals seem awful big to me.
according to kenn.com the league average right now is 4,116 so if atlanta averaged 4,000 a season that is fine. with a 4000 average attendance that would put them the same as philly, clevland, kansas city, and san diego. that sounds good to me.
We've found out that the MLS idea actually has a sponsor, it would be Home Depot. If they brought one here, they'd probably have to play at either Herndon or DeKalb Memorial until another stadium could be built. That really doesn't seem likely because of the new Silverbacks Park, and it would undermine everything they're doing here to move forward. But the idea isn't that farfetched with a name like Home Depot on it.
Just to re-open an old thread...the above post reminded me that the Braves are inches away from being purchased by some group called "Liberty ......something or another." There was talk in the city about Arthur Blank (owner of Home Depot) purchasing the Braves but it seems as though that might not be happening. I hope that in Blank's dedication to the city and the making Atlanta the Sports capital of the south that he would be willing to consider buying into MLS...especially since the Braves purchase won't be working out. What do you guys think about that?
If the NFL would let him do it, it'd be fine, but I seem to remember that Joe Robbie had to either sell or move the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers because the NFL wouldn't let him own two teams in different league in the same town. I'll research it and get back to ya's . Epilogue: The Strikers moved due to a suitable indoor facility. But I think Robbie had to sell them or something. Anybody remember?
I've been making that point for a year or two now. Since he has offered about $400 million for the Braves, I figured if he has any interest in soccer he oughta look into that. As far as rules owning two teams: Ted Turner owned the Hawks, Braves, & Thrashers at the same time (either he or Time Warner did...I think the Thrashers started when he was with them). So it's fine to own multiple teams.
I didn't know that...yeah, I wonder what the NFL's policy is on that. But what about Hunt? Doesn't he own the Chiefs and the Wizards?
Ted Turner himself owned the both the Braves and Hawks for years. When he merged with AOL Time Warner, everybody's assets were thrown into one big pool. IIRC, the Thrashers began play after Ted and AOL/Time Warner had merged. Still, I assume there's no problem with owning multiple teams, as long as they're not in the same sport, but you'd probably have to refer to MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL ownership rules in that regard. MLS is obviously a little different, but then again, AEG, HSG, Kraft, etc. are "investor/operators", so maybe MLS will allow an owner multiple teams until the league abandons single-entity.
I talked to someone yesterday who isn't necessarily "in the know," but he told me that the Silverbacks are starting to slim down on their youth ranks. Apparently one example is the old United Soccer Club in Kennesaw...where I used to play. It became affiliated with the Silverbacks a few years ago but has now changed again and seems to no longer be part of the organization. Take this for what its worth, but is it possible that the 'Backs are reducing expendatures in hopes to save enough money for an expansion fee? Until recently, I had argued that the Backs ownership probably didn't wan to have anything to do with MLS's single entity structure, but with introduction of Red Bull, Vergara, and Checketts as new owners in the league, maybe the owners are starting to be much more hands on than I thought and MLS might not look as bad as it once seemed for the Backs owners. Anyone take this as setting up for a bid?
Right now I think they're figuring out how to sell out The Max so they can afford to do the next phase of construction. Then they want to sell enough tickets to get to the 15,000 seat phase of construction. Once they can sell out 15,000 seats, I think then they would start doing the whole MLS thing. Of course what do I know?
A number of local youth clubs that 'joined' the Silverbacks are doing their own thing now. A New Beginning for Metro North and United Quest as They Merge to Become North Atlanta Soccer Assoc.