Several potential owners have “expressed interest” in the potential new men’s and women's USL teams that may be coming to the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, according to Doug Roberson of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. The city and the league announced Monday night a public/private partnership to “build a stadium with a capacity of as many as 15,000 seats” as part of a new mixed-use sports and entertainment district with a "women’s soccer team as the anchor." USL Deputy CEO Justin Papadakis said that it would be the “largest complex of its kind in the world.” A site has not been selected but Papadakis said that they “hope to have that done by the end of the year.” He added that after the structure of the deal is in place and the site is selected, it would “take 18-24 months to build the stadium.” The league is hoping to start play “possibly as early as 2026 to take advantage of the interest that will be generated” from the eight World Cup matches that will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Papadakis said that those who have interest in owning the franchise “are mostly Atlanta-based" and that the USL “focuses on having local owners” (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 3/26).
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FIRST STEPS DONE: In Atlanta, Adrianne Murchison wrote Roswell City Council approved a letter of intent between Roswell and the USL during a Monday meeting. A location and cost of the project which would be "a public/private partnership" has not yet been determined. Murchison noted Roswell is “considering use of taxpayer monies for the project.” The agreement states predevelopment costs would “include site surveys, feasibility studies, financial projections, consultant fees as well as architect and engineering fees.” Soccer has “become a hugely popular sport” in metro Atlanta and Roswell is among other local cities “vying for professional sports teams that would be based in a sports and entertainment mixed-used complex” (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 3/26).
