Category — professional soccer

They’ve got the makings of a Web site and a Facebook page that’s up and running, with nearly 200 fellow travelers having signed up thus far. If you want to pledge allegiance to their cause, you can even buy a T-shirt (right, below) that leaves little doubt as to what you want. And by all means, don’t hesitate to Tweet them up.

Just be prepared to wait a while for your dreams to come true.

Getting all shirty over MLS in Atlanta.

Despite the euphoria over two well-attended matches at the Georgia Dome this summer and Atlanta’s bid as a potential World Cup venue, the city remains an elusive blip on the radar of Major League Soccer, as it has for most of the league’s 13-year history.

After withdrawing his bid for a Major League Soccer franchise in December, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has placed any future aspirations to apply again in a holding pattern due to the sour economy. But a fledgling band of fans is forging ahead anyway, drumming up grassroots support for what they hope will be an eventual MLS presence in Atlanta.

They call themselves B.O.S.S. — the Brotherhood of Southern Soccer. They’ve fashioned their efforts after a fan group in Philadelphia, Sons of Ben, which launched an MLS crusade a few years ago. The honorific is for Ben Franklin, and next year those SoBs — that really is how they call themselves – will have a team to cheer for, as the Philadelphia Union joins MLS as an expansion franchise.

A number of B.O.S.S. aficionadoes Tweeted and took pictures from the Dome last week, proclaiming the city ready for big-time soccer on a regular basis:

“Official attendance at Georgia Dome: 50,306. In Atlanta. On a Wednesday night. In late July. Who says the south can’t support soccer??”

One of the driving forces behind B.O.S.S. believes the Dome exhibitions were exactly what Atlanta needed to make its case.

“We’ve never had the chance to show the rest of the country what was there, what the potential has been in Atlanta,” said Will Clearman, a former Woodstock High and Mercer University soccer player, who is now a naval engineer in Washington, D.C. “We never had a place to play big international games until now. Now there’s a serious chance of something happening.”

Soccer fans from all over the Southeast turned out to see Mexico. Would they do the same for an MLS team? (photo by David Tulis)

At least the prospects for MLS are stronger than they’ve been, especially with local ownership interest having surfaced. But significant roadblocks remain, even though the league has always had Atlanta in mind.

“MLS would like to have a presence in the Southeast and Atlanta is a large international city that is headquarters to major global corporations such as Coca-Cola and The Home Depot,” MLS vice president of communications Dan Courtemanche replied in an e-mail. “We also believe Atlanta is a strong soccer market and think an MLS team would appeal to the growing international population in Georgia.”

But . . . and the same “but” still applies:

“Atlanta’s biggest challenge for landing a future expansion team is that it currently does not have an appropriate venue for an MLS team,” Courtemanche added.

In 2000 there was a local effort to create something called the Atlanta Soccer Village, with an MLS-specific stadium as its centerpiece. But that idea never went anywhere. Neither did a last-ditch effort to save the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium for soccer use. The Atlanta Silverbacks, who have suspended participation in the United Soccer Leagues (a notch below MLS), several years ago built the shell of what might have been an MLS-standard stadium near the 285/85 intersection. But the location and lack of parking are among its drawbacks, and the future of that organization is uncertain.

So here we go again.

The facility issue could be solved if Blank ever builds a new Falcons stadium that he has envisioned as a public/private collaboration, with the most likely site at the former General Motors plant in Doraville.

That’s a very big “if” because the recession that Blank cited for scotching his initial application to MLS looms even larger now, especially with pace of the recovery in question.

“What it boils down to is the economic environment at this time,” said Kim Shreckengost, the executive vice president and chief of staff of AMB Group LLC, the parent company of the Falcons. “It’s not appropriate for us to pursue that now.”

Plenty of obstacles remain for MLS to come to Atlanta. (photo by David Tulis)

The MLS bid grew out of what Shreckengost said was a result of long-term strategic planning several years ago as AMB was “looking at growth opportunities” both in the sports realm and for further civic engagement.

Even after Blank withdrew his MLS bid, the Falcons organization helped promote both matches at the Dome, and it is represented on Atlanta’s World Cup bid committee. But Shreckengost said she could not indicate definitively when Blank may make another MLS bid: “I can’t until there is a clearer [economic] picture.”

MLS, which is in the process of adding four teams to grow to 18 by the start of the 2011 season, hasn’t stipulated when, and how many, teams might follow after that. There has been some speculation that the league could grow to 20 teams by 2012 or 2013. The owner of the USL’s Montreal Impact has been indicating publicly that his team will be admitted to MLS.

Watching from afar is Clearman, whose fan days here go back to attending Ruckus games in the mid-1990s and who remains convinced that Atlanta is an MLS-worthy market. He cites the packed crowds that frequently watch English and international matches at soccer watering holes like the Brewhouse Café in Little Five Points. Even as a Georgia Tech graduate student, he’d get up early on the weekends to get a good seat.

But does that signify enough interest in MLS?

“That’s how some people used to talk about Toronto, that those people were nothing but Eurosnobs,” Clearman responded.

The Canadian city that also drew paltry crowds for its former USL team is now an MLS hotbed, with Toronto FC games at its 20,000-seat home venue frequently sold out. “If that can happen there, I think it can happen in Atlanta too.”

However another MLS bid might proceed, Clearman advises those striving to bring a team to Atlanta to work closely with its fan base.

“If they’re serious, then there’s a lot they can gain from the people who support them.”

Kartik Krishnayir at Major League Soccer Talk is doubtful that more Major League Soccer expansion will help the league’s ailing television numbers, unless it includes a second franchise in the New York City area.

But that’s not happening, at least for now, as Mets owner Fred Wilpon, who’s been interested in bringing MLS to Queens, is in no shape to follow through. He got taken to the cleaners by Bernie Madoff.

Krishnayir doesn’t mention television possibilities for another potential MLS expansion city uttered last week by commissioner.

But Atlanta was one of the top markets in the country tuning into the finals of the Confederations Cup, for whatever that’s worth.

MLS Rumors asks readers for their thoughts about commissioner Don Garber’s statement last week regarding future expansion possibilities that include Atlanta.

As noted on Atlanta Soccer News on Friday, Garber specifically mentioned Atlanta as one of five potential markets for what appear to be two expansion slots, perhaps as early as 2012. The others: Montreal, the Carolinas, Miami and St. Louis.

But check out some of the comments on Atlanta’s inclusion in the mix. They’re not impressed, to say the least:

Anyone but Atlanta.

Atlanta, no way, just forget it now please.

Etc., etc.

Atlanta is one of several markets in the mix for the next round of Major League Soccer expansion, the Sports Business Daily reported Friday.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank submitted an expansion bid for the 2011 season but withdrew it earlier this year. The Falcons were involved in marketing and promotional efforts for last month’s friendly at the Georgia Dome between Mexico and Venezuela that drew more than 50,000 spectators in the first soccer match at the 14-year-old indoor facility.

Later on Friday, the New York Post quoted MLS commissioner Don Garber as saying he’s not concerned about watering down the quality of MLS, which currently has 15 teams and will grow to 18 by the start of the 2011 season. Geographic considerations appear to play a prominent role in expansion decisions:

“We’re not south of Washington, D.C. Markets like Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, we have to figure out how we capture another 50 million people in this country. . . .

“But you get east into the Midwest, we’re feeling a little weak there. We need a team in St. Louis, and we’re trying to figure out how to make that work.”

No firm timetable has been set for the next round of expansion, though it could come as early as 2013. MLS officials are scheduled to begin making more precise plans during the forthcoming All-Star break.

Jim Smith, the Falcons vice president for marketing, formerly was general manager of the Columbus Crew of MLS. That connection, as well as Atlanta’s long-held viability as a future market for the league, has kept the city on the MLS radar.

“We know Jim so well and that he knows that market,” Dan Courtemanche, the MLS vice president for communications, told Atlanta Soccer News after the June 24 match at the Dome. League and Falcons officials met during that week to further discuss expansion. “What we have now is an ongoing dialogue.

Atlanta Soccer News has contacted Falcons executives seeking comment on MLS expansion, but they have not responded.

MLS expanded into Seattle this season, will add Philadelphia to the fold next year and welcomes Vancouver and Portland in 2011.

Those three cities in the Pacific Northwest have been part of the second division United Soccer Leagues, where the Atlanta Silverbacks played until the franchise withdrew from competition for the 2009 season, citing the economy. Montreal also currently is playing in the USL, but owner Joey Saputo this spring made a personal visit to New York to meet with Garber about MLS expansion.

Courtemanche explained that for a city to be seriously considered for expansion, it must meet three criteria: it is regarded as an “international” city; it has a viable ownership group; and that it is a “passionate soccer market.”

The turnout at the first soccer match at the Georgia Dome made a good impression, but Courtemanche cautioned it was a “one-off event . . . It’s an opportunity for us to put our toe into this market.”

The city will play host to another international friendly on Wednesday at the Georgia Dome when AC Milan of Italy and Mexico’s Club América meet in the World Football Challenge. That match will be shown live on ESPN2.

MLS has been interested in returning the Southeast after franchises in Miami and Tampa Bay folded in 2002. In Birmingham, the mayor said plans for a new domed stadium could boost its MLS aspirations. But Atlanta and St. Louis, among other cities passed over previously, are likely to be considered ahead of new bidders.

The possibility of MLS in Atlanta may depend on Blank’s ability to get a new Falcons stadium he has long desired. The city’s formal venue proposal for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup will include information on both the Georgia Dome and a potential new Falcons facility. That proposal is due to the U.S. Soccer Federation July 29.

Earlier this week Blank sold minority stakes in the Falcons to four individual investors, but he still retains 90 percent of the franchise.