Atlanta United FC execs said that season-ticket deposits for the team's inaugural season in '17 at the new Falcons stadium "are approaching 24,000," which is larger than MLS’ '15 attendance average, according to Steven Goff of the WASHINGTON POST. The early buzz "contradicts the perception of Atlanta being a soft pro sports market" and "belies the belief the South does not care about soccer." For MLS, the club, which is owned by Falcons Owner Arthur Blank, "will downsize capacity at the 71,000-seat stadium to 29,322 by using mechanical drapes to block the upper sections in order to create an intimate atmosphere." However, Blank said with season-ticket deposits surging, "We won’t do anything to suppress the numbers at all. … Our aspirations are to fill up the place." Goff notes Atlanta United FC "is starting from scratch; it does not have a lower-division team to use for top-tier purposes, like Orlando City did this season and other expansion outfits have done in the past." By next summer, the organization "aims to open an elite youth academy" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/23). Atlanta United FC President Darren Eales said he hopes that the club will "close on the site that will host its training facility by the end of next week." He added that club execs "are choosing between three sites." Eales said that they "need to have the training facility constructed no later" than by December '16 (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 7/23).
