MLS Expansion - Just outside Atlanta (okay, more then 'just')

First off, this is the weakest sort of MLS expansion news because it is just an idea article, but it is something to keep a watch on. Demming Bass, the vice president of marketing and public policy for the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce (outside Atlanta), likes the idea of making his suburban home into a copy of Frisco, Texas, home of FC Dallas.

Frisco, Texas, is home to both the Pizza Hut Soccer Park (home of FC Dallas) and the Dr Pepper Ballpark (home of the Texas Rangers' Class AA Frisco RoughRiders).

These parks have positioned Frisco as a destination for visitors, enhanced the city's family-friendly reputation, generated additional business and tax revenue, and differentiated Frisco from other cities in the Dallas metroplex.

Pizza Hut Park is a 140-acre facility with a nearly 22,000-seat stadium used more than 300 days a year for soccer, international tournaments, concerts, school football games and other community events. Adjacent to the park are 17 soccer fields available for school teams. According to Frisco's economic development director, the complex draws more annual visitors than the Dallas Cowboys.

Again, this is just someone putting the idea out there, so it is far from being anything close to a deal, but it is initial steps like this that could lead to something.

Like it or not, MLS is a fan of the big suburban stadium and if there is a place in the Atlanta market that is open to such an idea (and that would provide as nice a deal as Frisco provided FCD), it does move it up on the possible new home market.

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[Source: My Soccer Blog]