Pretty freaking amazing what the Atlanta United has done

Yep, Arthur and his team that brought soccer to Atlanta either got really lucky (doubtful), or they designed and perfectly executed a plan to successfully launch this franchise in Atlanta.

This is what I posted on the MSB:

It helps that younger people in general grew up playing soccer and following it more with what I perceive to be increased coverage of international events. It also helps that the Atlanta club came into existence immediately acting like the New York Yankees in terms of spending and aggressiveness in signing "top" international players. They were always going to draw a big crowd in year one, but with their style of play and talent, the momentum has continued to build.

And last, it helps that they made the games (yeah...I called them "games") affordable. We went to the playoff game on Sunday for $25 a piece. I can't get into the stadium for the game against the Cowboys for under $120 on stubhub. Part of this is because of the Cowboys, but it's also because season ticket holders pay so much that they aren't going to just give their seats away if they can't make it. The people who can generally afford to go to Falcons games aren't going to be the types of people that are in their seat before kickoff and stay/make noise all game.

The NFL and college football need to take notes. I'm afraid football is a dying sport much to my chagrin, but I believe that to be true. The Atlanta United have done a masterful job of marketing their sport.

Give the keys to each Atlanta franchise over to Blank.

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Wish Arthur could somehow convince the NHL to let him have a team. He'd be the only one I'd trust to make the 3rd time a charm.

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There was talk that he kicked the tires when the Thrashers were for sale, but Spirit made it impossible to sell that team locally. He would have been frozen out of arena marketing rights, sponsorships, and the like, and it made the economics impossible. In the great list of Atlanta sports villains (Steve Young, Tom Brady, Jim Leyritz, Bobby Petrino, Mark Wohlers, on and on), the Spirit have to be at the top. Purely despicable.

The NHL sacrificed the ATL market in order to get the Spirit out of their ownership ranks. They aren't coming back. But Blank could have done what Nashville and Vegas have done. He basically did it with United.

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Red Bulls looked great against Columbus. Little worried.

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You should be. NYRB are fricking good and we've looked like shite against them.

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I'm shocked at how well the city has gotten behind them.

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Me too man. As someone who grew up in ATL and lived there for 25+ years, if you had told me the city would rally behind a soccer team like this I never would have believed you. I have friends that have never shown any interest in soccer and are now basically obsessed with the team. It is remarkable. I think more than anything the excitement/energy of the games coupled with the price point has just been the perfect formula. ETA I do wonder what the attendance would look like if the team was awful

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Little worried.

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Doesn’t help that we’ve never beaten them either.

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I was skeptical about soccer in the Deep South, especially after two NHL teams failed here. But it's been amazing to watch Atl United grow.

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Blank =/= Tom Cousins nor the Atlanta Shithead Group

People forget that this isn’t our first time dipping our toes into soccer. Albeit, no MLS prior, but we’ve had indoor soccer which some non-soccer fans may enjoy more than normal soccer. Anyone remember the Atlanta Attack?

Guys, the Silverbacks were and still are a thing.