Atlanta exec building club from scratch
MOST of the world’s leading football clubs were formed a century ago, but in the United States new teams continue to be created and next year will see Atlanta United become the latest club to be born into Major League Soccer.
Club president Darren Eales, who played in the United States and later worked as an executive in English football, has had the rare task of creating a new club from scratch and says it has been a heady experience.
“It is like playing fantasy football in a way. Sometimes I wake up and have to pinch myself,” the 44-year-old Englishman said.
“I love soccer, it’s a great game and to have a chance to build a team from scratch is a real privilege. I was at Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion before Atlanta, clubs that have been around over 125 years, so this is a totally unique proposition to be able to come to a club and start everything from scratch,” he says.
“No name, no branding, no kit, no players, no coaches, no history, so that was the unique challenge,” adds Eales.
It wasn’t, however, a solo effort. Atlanta are bankrolled by Arthur Blank, founder of the Home Depot chain of DIY stores and owner of the Atlanta Falcons NFL team. They will share the Falcons’ new Mercedes Benz stadium.
Given NFL teams have only eight home games in each regular season, there is an obvious benefit in having another club call the stadium home, but Eales says Blank sees other benefits.
“What he saw was the growth of soccer – particularly that demographic, the younger, millennial and Hispanic demographic.
“He was building a new stadium so it was perfect to have a franchise that could ta ke advantage of that venue,” he said.
Eales was t he first employee of the club and said he expected his initia l work to be focused on persuading t he loca l population of t he attractions of t he game. But he quick ly discovered there was plent y of passion a lready t here.
“We have had a core of avid fans from the start, and all we have done is grassroots marketing to them and they have been our ambassadors.
“Three months ago we broke the Seattle Sounders’ record with 22,000 season tickets sold and that continues to rise. And we still have three months to go before we start playing,” he said.
The new stadium will hold over 70,000 for NFL games but has been designed to operate at a lower capacity for MLS matches without empty seats in sight. The aim is to deliver American soccer fans the kind of atmosphere they see at European venues.
‘Global game’
“Everyone [in the US] understands that soccer is a global game,” Eales said. “It used to be the ‘commie sport’ . . . now you have this younger generation, this new audience that love soccer, watch it on television, whether it is Premier League, Bundesliga, Mexican Liga MX, they can now go to their local MLS team and the atmosphere will be incredible.”
Meanwhile, with David Beck ham still struggling to get his Major League Soccer franchise off the ground i n Miami, MLS commissioner Don Garber on Thursday outlined plans for continued expansion from this season’s 20 teams to 28.
Expansion is already underway, with Minnesota joinning Atlanta as the new teams to kick off next season, bringing the number of clubs to 22.
Los Angeles FC is preparing to take the field in 2018, and Beckham’s Miami club, beset by problems sorting out a suitable stadium deal, is slated to become the 24th team.
Garber said potential ownership groups in 10 cities have expressed interest in launching the 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th MLS clubs, with the league aiming to name two new clubs next year.