When MLS first began play in 1996 with just 10 teams, it's unlikely that executives in the league offices envisioned what has happened over the past two seasons in Georgia's capital city. The Atlanta United, a club operated by Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank, has quickly become the poster team for what MLS Commissioner Don Garber believes is possible throughout the league.
On Saturday night, the United capped a dream two-season run for the expansion team with its first MLS Cup title, defeating the Portland Timbers 2-0. The win also marked the first title for one of the city's top-level sports clubs since the Atlanta Braves captured the 1995 World Series, a span of 23 years. That World Series title was the only top professional sports championship for Atlanta teams in 175 combined seasons until last night. (With due respect to the Georgia Swarm, the team's 2017 National Lacrosse League championship doesn't meet the criteria.)
And while the United's win won't erase the still-visible scars from the Falcons' Super Bowl collapse two seasons ago, or the Braves' 2-game lead in the 1996 World Series, or the University of Georgia's repeated inability to defeat the Univerisity of Alabama in college football title games, it's a good start. And don't try to tell Garber that the United haven't earned a seat at the "big sports" table.
Atlanta is now planning a victory parade for Monday. It might be the only time the city's residents don't complain about traffic. United's players, many from foreign countries or other cities throughout the U.S., had become aware of how long the city has gone without a title.
"Most of us aren’t from here, so we don’t know the pain that they’ve been through," Atlanta captain Michael Parkhurst, a Boston native, said after the game. "I’m just happy we could come through for them because I know there were a lot of anxious and stressed out fans out there."
Saturday night's match drew an MLS Cup-record 73,019. It also marked the largest single-game crowd in MLS history. For perspective, the attendance was higher than the past four Super Bowls.
“I hope we have raised the bar right," Atlanta midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said.
For a town long characterized by rabid sports fans in city's like New York, Boston, or Chicago, as being apathetic about its professional teams, Atlanta's soccer fans have turned out in droves to support the United ever since the team played its first match in Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium to start last season. In comparison, the league's two New York City-based teams draw about 20,000 per game, slightly more than the 18,o00 average attendance at New England Revolution games. The Chicago Fire, a team that joined MLS in 1998 and won the title in its first season, drew 14,000 per game this season, the second-fewest of all clubs.
And while Garber's vision might be a little bit of wishful thinking, witnessing more than 70,000 soccer fans fill a downtown Atlanta sports venue on a cold and rainy December night is nothing short of astounding. No matter what most U.S. sports fans think of the sport, the numbers are hard to argue with.
This season, the United became the first MLS club to draw more than one million fans. The team averaged a league record 53,002 supporters per contest, including eight crowds of more than 70,000, in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Off the field, the United's success has also been a boon for MLS. The club was the highest-selling team for MLSstore.com in its inaugural 2017 season. This year, United is No. 1 in overall merchandise sales, year-to-date.
On the field, the team was led by striker Josef Martinez, who netted a league-record 35 goals (31 during the regular season.) Martinez picked up a goal and an assist in the Cup final to earn MLS Cup MVP honors to go with his league MVP trophy.
Playing home games in a $1.2 billion stadium that has established itself as one of the country's top sports venues certainly helps. When building the stadium, designers at the HOK architecture firm incorporated large curtains that could be lowered to cover upper deck seats, anticipating that they would be empty for most games. The curtains have rarely been drawn.
"It all started with the vision from Arthur (Blank)," Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan said. "He’s the man behind all of this. He thought that it could prevail: this sport, a team in this city. And it all started with a belief." (The management) did their homework in terms of putting together this team and this roster from day one. And, to celebrate like we are now after year two, it’s huge.”
For the past several years, Garber and MLS have insisted that teams build soccer-specific stadiums, an attempt to avoid a repeat of the league's early days when MLS clubs had trouble filling seats in the cavernous venues built for National Football League teams. In most cities, such as Washington D.C., which opened the new 20,000-seat Audi Field earlier this year, smaller stadiums make more economic sense.
However, witnessing how Atlanta and the Seattle Sounders -- a team which draws 40,000 fans per game in a stadium they share with the NFL's Seahawks -- have been able to successfully pair their NFL-MLS partnerships, has opened Garber's eyes.
"Every now and again you have something that happens that shocks you," Garber said. "What's been happening in Seattle was the first example of that. What's happening here in Atlanta continues to astound me. So I think we're probably more open to thinking about it now that we've seen two examples of success with large stadiums." However, Garber quickly adds, "the model clearly is still focused on smaller facilities.''
Beyond Atlanta, MLS has continued to grow, with Los Angeles FC becoming the league's 23rd team this year. Cincinnati will join in 2019, followed by Miami and Nashville in 2020. There are as many as 10 other cities, including front-runners Austin, Phoenix, St. Louis, and San Diego looking to join the league.
"When this league was launched, we had a great vision of trying to build a league that could earn the respect of, not just those people that have been part of the game for so many years but to earn respect of the rest of the world," Garber said. "I think what's happening here is a very strong statement about how our country is a true soccer nation."
