Atlanta United on Friday morning announced a sellout for Sunday’s inaugural MLS game against the Red Bulls at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium, which has a capacity of 55,000 (THE DAILY). In Atlanta, Doug Roberson noted the club has "sold more than 30,000 season tickets" (AJC.com, 3/2). The APs Paul Newberry notes United will host eight games at Bobby Dodd before they are scheduled to move into their "permanent home," Mercedes-Benz Stadium, on July 30. While Bobby Dodd is a "bit narrow for soccer -- along one sideline, there's only 2 yards between the pitch and the brick wall of the stands -- it was approved by MLS after grass was installed over the entire surface of the field." United will "lose some 10,000 seats after the first home game," as Georgia Tech had already "scheduled maintenance of the upper deck at the north end of the stadium. However, the stadium's "intimate atmosphere ... should give United a solid home-field advantage" (AP, 3/3).
CHECKING OFF THE RIGHT BOXES: REUTERS' Simon Evans wrote for Atlanta, "pretty much every box that would need to be ticked to create a successful new MLS team has been ticked." The city "wasn’t an obvious choice for expansion but the size of the fan-base shows MLS was wise to bring a franchise to Georgia." The city has a reputation as a "fickle sports town, with many transplants still keeping their allegiance to their hometown teams in the main American sports." But that situation "doesn’t apply to the less established sport of soccer." United President Darren Eales said that the club has "captured a sense of identity among Millennials and Hispanics in the city" (REUTERS, 3/1). SPORTS ON EARTH's Will Leitch notes soccer has "long been a quiet obsession in Atlanta, and the city itself has grown younger and more diverse in recent years, the exact sort of recipe that brews soccer fandom in the United States." Leitch: "It's all very fun and new and thrilling and just about the most purely pleasurable sports thing going on in Atlanta right now" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 3/3).
EXTREME EXCITEMENT: FOXSPORTS.com's Ryan Rosenthal wrote no expansion team "has ever entered MLS with more excitement." No first-year team has ever sold more season tickets, and that will give United a "fan base that most of the league is already envious off." Rosenthal: "The market hasn’t just stepped up, it’s been beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, and it’s a good thing they’re in an NFL stadium because there isn’t a soccer-specific stadium big enough for them" (FOXSPORTS.com, 3/2). United Owner Arthur Blank said, "It's incredible how much passion there [is] for this team in Atlanta. Every place I go. As much passion as I see and feel for the Falcons, I can see and feel it for our soccer franchise. It's great. I couldn't be happier" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 3/3).
PUMP THE BREAKS: In Atlanta, Jeff Schultz notes Atlanta United "hasn’t played a game yet but it’s already an early success story." The team's more than 30,000 season tickets is "second in the MLS" to the Sounders, and there are already "multiple fan clubs." Schultz: "But this is where we caution: It’s Atlanta. The fickle reputation of the city’s sports fans is well documented." United’s market research showed their "initial core audience will be millennials." It even "surveyed Falcons’ fans and potential soccer fans and asked questions like whether they had beer preferences." However, beer and cool new unis aside, the team "eventually must win." The Thrashers "sold out several games in their first two seasons but interest waned as losses mounted" before the NHL team eventually moved to Winnipeg in '11 (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 3/3).
