They say good things come in threes. Major League Soccer is hoping this rings true with their new trio of Southeast expansion market: Orlando, Miami, and Atlanta.
On Wednesday, the City of Atlanta was officially awarded the rights to an expansion franchise that will join MLS in 2017. The franchise will be owned by Arthur Blank, co-founder of The Home Depot and current owner of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
The announcement was made at a soccer festival in downtown Atlanta, with MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and US Men’s National Team legend Alexi Lalas all present.
“We are thrilled to welcome Atlanta to Major League Soccer as our 22nd team,” Garber said in a statement. “Atlanta is one of the largest and most diverse markets in North America and has a rich tradition in sports and culture.”
“And with Arthur Blank joining our ownership group, we are adding one of the most respected owners in professional sports. Arthur is deeply passionate about soccer and our quest to become one of the top professional soccer leagues in the world. We look forward to working with him and the entire Falcons organization on achieving this important goal.”
It is not known how much Blank’s ownership group paid MLS as an expansion fee. 2015 expansion outfits New York City FC and Orlando City paid $100 million and $70 million respectively to gain entry into the league.
The new franchise will play in a new $1.2 billion venue, set to be completed in time for the start of the 2017 MLS season, that they will share the Falcons. Similar to BC Place, the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps and the CFL’s BC Lions, the new stadium will have a retractable roof made up of cable-supported fabric sheets. Just as is done at BC Place, the roof will cover the upper bowl of seating during MLS matches in order to limit capacity to around 20,000 and create a more intimate environment.
After a two year lull, expansion has picked up at the rapid pace it left off. From 2005 to 2013, an average of one new tem began play each season. This rate will remain constant with New York City FC and Orlando City both joining in 2015, and will stay constant until 2017 as long as David Beckham’s Miami franchise does not fall behind its targeted debut that year.
The City of Atlanta’s interest in an MLS franchise has long been documented. As the largest American market without an MLS franchise, it seemed to be a matter of “when” and not “if” the city would be awarded a franchise. With Atlanta now off the expansion big board, the largest markets (depending on what measure you use, any of these could appear at the top) without an MLS franchise are Detroit, Phoenix, and Minneapolis.
Minneapolis appears to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to the league’s 24th franchise. Also in the conversation are the cities of Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, and St. Louis, but according to Garber the league does not currently plan to expand beyond 24 teams.
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