Well loyal readers, after the recent demise of the Atlanta Thrashers and seeing the Flames leave the ATL back in 1980, I've been doing some thinking. I've tried to take my feelings of the game of hockey(which I REALLY enjoy) and put them on the shelf for a few minutes so that I could think from the business standpoint. With these two failed ventures in trying to bring hockey to Atlanta I'd have to say that if I were an independently wealthy soul that was in the market for a professional team, would I try to bring hockey back to Atlanta? Probably not and here's my train of thought.
(1) Look at the other professional teams in Atlanta; the Braves, Hawks and Falcons. Of the three, if you look at overall attendance the Falcons lead the way and have for years, even when they sucked. The Braves of course have probably the most loyal fan base of the three but attendance during the weekday games is pretty dismal. The Hawks could say much the same, weekday games=poor attendance. So why is this? Is it only because of the south being a football crazy region that the Falcons enjoy attendance "success"? What about Baseball? Doesn't the south consistently produce some of the best professional prospects year after year because of the ability to play the sport down here year round? I would argue that baseball also has a huge following in the south. So why do the Braves see a decrease in attendance during the week and places like Boston, New York and Chicago continue to pack 'em in? Two words.....MASS TRANSIT. While Atlanta does have MARTA is does not directly service Turner Field. You have to take MARTA to Five Points station downtown and then hop a bus to the game. Most folks view this as a hastle (even when there is free beer involved). The only other option is to hop in your car and drive to the game. Unless you live like 10 minutes from Turner Field like Kate and I do, that is probably not an option for you when you have to deal with rush hour traffic during the week and have to work the next day. Friday-Sunday games are usually packed at Turner Field. I would also be curious to see the results of a study that showed where the most loyal Braves fans commute from. I would venture to say that the biggest portion of overall attendance at the Braves games come from outside the perimeter (for those of you not from Atlanta, that means outside the I-285 loop). I for one believe that if MARTA had a stop within walking distance of Turner Field, and I'm talking Blue Lot distance and not King Memorial station, that the Braves would see a drastic increase in the weekday games. For those of you waiting for me to get to my point, don't worry, it's coming!
For years, people outside Atlanta have always said that Atlanta has a "fair weather" fan base. I believe that some draw that impression from the attendance when they don't understand the transportation challenges in the city and also, that you can sit on your couch at home and see the Braves any night of the week!
(2) You have to look at the regional loyalties when it comes to sports. In the south, football is definitely king, especially college football. As the Falcons continue to draft southern college players into their ranks, like Julio Jones from Alabama, they are going to continue to draw from that market. Secondly, is baseball. Baseball has always had and always will have a large following in the south due to the fact that you can play it all year long down here and what kid hasn't got a bunch of friends together and played a little game of hardball or just pitch and catch? Basketball, in my opinion runs a close third. In the deep south, we haven't had the success in basketball like our friends up the road in Chapel Hill, Raleigh-Durham and Lexington but the Hawks continue to draw off that fan base. So, what is the fourth most popular sport down here? Hockey? Yeah right! And monkeys might fly out of my arse! I would argue that if you are talking a team sport, that it would be soccer. Yep, I said soccer. Now when I was growing up in Alabama, you pretty much had to go to the bigger cities like Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile and Huntsville to have you kids play in a league. Today, that has changed. You can find soccer all over the south and in many of the high schools. A couple of years ago in Atlanta, we had the Mexican National Team face the Venezuelan National Team. One would think that they had to pretty much give away tickets to get people to the game right? I mean, the Thrashers have tried that for years and still couldn't get 17,000 in Phillips Arena. Not the way it went down folks. 51,115 in attendance at the Georgia Dome on a Wednesday night! Supposedly, it was a pro-Mexican crowd but do we think that all those fans drove or flew in from Mexico? Come on man! Really? Get out from under the rock you have been living under. The Hispanic population here in the south has been growing for years and these hard working folks love themselves some soccer! Not only do the Hispanics love it but judging from the excitement I see around Atlanta when the World Cup comes around, I'd be willing to say that it's pretty freaking popular outside the Hispanic population too.
OK. For all of you that have been waiting for me to get to my point, here it comes.....WAIT for it.....wait for it......MLS Soccer! That's right folks, MLS soccer. Now, I know that some of you out there are probably thinking that I need to step out of the opium tent and clear my head a little but check this out. I've been fortunate to have been stationed in Europe and been able to see leagues like the German Bundesliga and the English Premiere League first hand. The skill in those leagues, still amazes me today. When I came back to the states and watched my first MLS game, I thought I was watching a high school team or something. Today, the US has closed the gap and there are some teams in the MLS that you could argue could be competitive in either of the above mentioned leagues. In 2003, the LA Galaxy were the first MLS team to become profitable. FC Dallas followed in 2005 after they moved to their new home in Pizza Hut Park and almost all the MLS teams have since followed. MLS has also continued to work it's relationship with it's local regions by their "Game First" initiative which came about in the off season of 2006-2007. Within this initiative is a requirement for all teams in the league to provide a developmental league for it's local talent. The hope is that by being able to sign up to two of its own youth players to the senior team each year that the league's teams will have an incentive to improve the quality of the league's talent in an organic way that will also benefit the league through transfer fees for outgoing players. How's it working? Not too bad. Ever heard of Jozy Altidore? He was probably the first example of our home grown talent fetching a hefty transfer fee when he went to Villareal in 2008 for 10 million duckies. For those of you that aren't familiar with how that works, it is where a MLS team agrees to "loan" a player to another league for a certain price tag for each season. He also was "loaned" to Hull City of the English Premiere league in 2009 for $11 million. MLS also plays most of it's games on the weekend. I'll use the schedule of the Chicago Fire for this year. 30 of it's 41 games have been during the weekend! Folks, that's 73 percent of your games, during the weekend.
So, while I'm not independently wealthy nor do I have any experience in running a professional sports team, if I were spending my money, I'd be bringing MLS to the ATL but keeping in mind, LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION for the stadium and it's ability to get folks from OTP into the perimeter to the games, or vice-versa. Come on Atlanta, let's quit crying about the Thrashers and move on! Bring on the MLS!
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