It's amazing to me how much the city has embraced United

We are season ticket holders and it's still amazing every match we go to.

Unfortunately there is a contingent (mostly United fans) who treat the Braves and United as either-or, but it's just a great time to be a fan of either/both. I love MB and the United support, I also think the Battery has totally changed the Braves experience for the better.

The Falcons will have to step it up because there is incredible energy around AUFC, the Braves and now the Hawks with the young core being developed.

Yesterday was my first game. Those supporter tailgates are top notch. It looks like these people have been tailgating for 20 years. And the in game experience is top notch. Very fun atmosphere

Blank looked at what Turner/TW/Spirit did with the Thrashers, and did the exact opposite.

It's worked.

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Blank looked at what Turner/TW/Spirit did with the Thrashers, and did the exact opposite.

It's worked.

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The Atlanta Spirit destroyed any chance Atlanta ever gets another NHL team unfortunately.

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There is a large contingent of ITP folks (mainly inner city and Inman Park/Grant Park/Candler Park/East Atlanta Village types) who got pissed at the Braves for moving to SunTrust and "abandoning" the city. It amazes me the number of Facebook friends I have who vowed to never go to another Braves game after the move. Once the team started playing well last year and again this year, most have forgotten that promise.

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so the funny thing about the ITPers bitching about the move (I'm looking at you ATLabama) is that if you polled them for an honest answer on how many games a year they went to, I bet the results would have been few if any. This whole thing was so stupid and overblown, and the fact that they are more concerned about moving away from the ghetto asphalt jungle to an area where they could thrive, make money, and produce a better product...that tells me what folks' priorities are and why Atlanta is (wrongfully) viewed as such a shitty sports town by outsiders.

Figured my name would show up here. I don't like the move OTP (moreso because they could have put it in Doraville on the MARTA line) but I still like the team, and still go to games.

The decline in my personal Braves attendance is moreover the fact, like most millennials, I have become somewhat disenchanted with the pace of play in baseball. Love going on a Friday night to socialize, but other than keeping it on in the background it's not a "passion," per say. I find myself exponentially more invested in the Falcons and Hawks.

ATL UTD is a great story; not a soccer fan myself but they are doing all the things right.

As far as most popular team in Atlanta - it is unquestionably, and by far and away, the Falcons. I don't know where you are going in ATL but I see their stuff all over town.

United did do a pretty smart thing by giving each of it's season ticket holders a flag to fly. I think with ATL being a transplant city (less now than before, but still), it gave folks who didn't feel attached to a team here, a chance to hop on and latch with something fun and exciting.

Moreover, Atlanta United games are a downright bargain. They play in one of the world's best stadiums, have an owner who spends money on talented players, have an unreal tailgate situation (HD Backyard is A1), and tickets range from 35-100 bucks. The cheapest ticket to a Falcons game (unless they are in the tank) is roughly 100 dollars. And it's far more than that when a marquee team comes to town.

So, I get the appeal. They've got great crowds, the stadium is first class, the team is good, it's easy to get to, it appeals to a much more diverse fanbase... I'm glad to see its doing well.

Hopefully, this gets us another chance at a hockey team!

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I actually think they will at some point. Blue Land was jumping in 2007 when they finally put a playoff caliber team on the ice. Then the team basically pulled a Marlins and that was that.

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Went to both of those 2 playoff games against the NYR. Game 1 to this day goes down as one of the most raucous sports environments I've ever been a part of.

As the NHL moves more into the 21st century with a revenue model that focuses less on gate attendance, and more on TV packages, Atlanta will get another crack at it. No major network is going to overlook a league with a gaping hole in a top 10 market.

I actually give credit to Atlanta United for having hope - we can point to them and say, "this is what happens when you give us a team with a strong foundation." Maybe Gary Bettman will retire/die soon and they can finally pull the plug on the Coyotes and bring them east.

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not sure what GSU calls it

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Georgia State Stadium

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You should really check out the area around Turner Field (I still call it Turner Field...not sure what GSU calls it). A lot of cool stuff happening around it. GSU has built some really nice student apartments and there are about 6 or 7 new restaurants that are about to open, as well as a pretty good new brewery. The whole area on Georgia avenue near the stadium is pretty awesome.

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To be fair to the Braves, the city promised to build up similar development for them out there in the very early 2000s.

The reason the Braves left "quietly into the night" was because they'd been asking for either (a) a new stadium or (b) a major renovation with a planned mixed-use development for years, and instead of getting it, the city gave deference back in in 2011 to Arthur Blank's project - fondly known as "Mercedes Benz Stadium."

In hindsight, I can see why the Braves felt jilted. They asked first. But in terms of pecking order, they were silly to just assume they'd get first pick over Arthur Blank and the Falcons on the premise that they were first in line. Arthur Blank, his franchise, and his stadium are quite plainly 2-3X more valuable to the city than the Braves. That's not hyperbole, that's a fact based on team valuations, revenue, and the amount of "prime time" events the Benz brings in.

I do wish McGuirk would have considered the Chamblee or Doraville site along the MARTA line, as it provides the same 285 and major interstate exchange (85) with the added component of having MARTA.

My hope is, ST Park is the "Trojan Horse" that finally gets a rail line out to Cobb County. If they do that, all is well that ends well.

Hopefully, Cobb is past the racist politics of the 90s that kept it out in the first place.

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You should really check out the area around Turner Field (I still call it Turner Field...not sure what GSU calls it). A lot of cool stuff happening around it. GSU has built some really nice student apartments and there are about 6 or 7 new restaurants that are about to open, as well as a pretty good new brewery. The whole area on Georgia avenue near the stadium is pretty awesome.

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that's great. if the city had committed to doing something like this when the Braves were still there, maybe things happen differently.