OT:What is Atlanta United FC doing different that the Thrashers did not do?

[Grudy0]

The MLS is better run then the NHL that's why. They scouted and are supporting the market.

Huh?

So basically, just casually browsing the sports internet the past few weeks, I see a lot of pieces on Atlanta's MLS success. (Some of it is coming off as fluff overload, even admittedly on r/MLS) Im not sure what LT this means for the team, but I feel the reaction has been better than anything the NHL and Thrashers achieved. I was just wondering from any ATL locals who might still hang around....what is the difference?

-Did MLS/Atl ensure that the team would be competitive right away?
-Was soccer already immensely more popular than hockey was when it arrived?
-Was marketing simply better?

Im asking as someone who has kinda thought Atl is not the best sports market, so I didnt predict this success.

You'll need to go back and look at the Thrashers first season. You'll find that it was on par with the current ATL United buzz.

And it has nothing to do with marketing. Too many here think that marketing is the key, and as canuckster19 mentions, there are way too many issues with the sport that only marketing can fix.

 

[ForsbergForever]

The 79-80 Flames averaged 10,024 a game but other franchises were hurting then as well including Pittsburgh and Chicago.

http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph_season.php?lid=NHL1927&sid=1980

Wow, it's crazy to think that the Bruins, who were a top team at that point, were only drawing 12,000 per game or that the Nordiques were barely getting 10,000 after just getting accepted in the NHL...

 

[DowntownBooster]

Wow, it's crazy to think that the Bruins, who were a top team at that point, were only drawing 12,000 per game or that the Nordiques were barely getting 10,000 after just getting accepted in the NHL...

The seating capacity at the Quebec Colisée for that first NHL season was 10,012 and remained so until 1981 when the seating was expanded to 15,250.

 

[ForsbergForever]

The seating capacity at the Quebec Colisée for that first NHL season was 10,012 and remained so until 1981 when the seating was expanded to 15,250.

Ah well that makes more sense, Winnipeg Arena was originally quite small as well, as I imagine the Jets could draw more than 13,000 if the seats were there.

 

[KingLB]

Its easier to compete in MLS your first season. So its possible to root for a winner, instead of having to wait multiple years at best just to make the playoffs. It will impact Vegas as well. Why the NHL didn't let them join the draft a year ahead, and start building the farm, as well as better drafting position is beyond me. You build team around stars, and stars are acquired in the draft, would have really helped Vegas to have 2-3 potential stars going into the first season. ATL United certainly does.

 

[Riptide]

Flood Atlanta with Canadians and what would you get? You'd get a hockey fan base.

Flood Atlanta with immigrants from countries where soccer is the #1 game, and the result will inevitably be the same.

You're way off base here. The popularity of soccer has nothing to do with where a family is from - but the costs. I absolutely love hockey and have ever since I was little. I've played a grande total of 1 hockey game in an arena on ice - and that was only because the builder who had just built the new facility knew my family and as a family we all went and played.

So despite hockey being my favorite sport to watch and to play, I grew up playing soccer. I played it ever since I was very little, to the point were I was able to participate in the Canada Games. And the reasoning behind it was very very simple - it costs next to nothing to play. Don't get me wrong... I enjoyed it. But when you can buy a used pair of shoes if you're poor, and some crap shin pads and even with your registration fee's, you're covered for less than $200-300 (probably less). Hell, where I live, I could buy new gear every year (or at least every 2nd year) and still spend less than that. Even my indoor winter league only costs around $300 to register for the year.

And while the registration fee's for hockey might not be that much more than indoor soccer (at least up here), overall their total costs are significantly higher then soccer. You might have to travel a bit to get to your game field, but given how many schools and whatnot are all over the place, I'm usually closer to 2-4 soccer fields then I am any of the arena's in town... and that applies to every town I've lived in.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

"OT:What is Atlanta United FC doing different that the Thrashers did not do?"

Winning.

 

[ThorntonFightClub*]

they also started in the best possible scenario you could ask for.

1. they get the bump in attendance all new teams get

2. they get the bump in attendance from getting to play in a brand new billion dollar stadium

 

[BMOK33]

Atlanta is largely a different world now than most of the Thrashers time there. Particularly their first 5 or so years. The downtown area near the arena is so much more populated where as back before 2006 or so and especially the late 90s it was insanely dangerous anywhere near midtown and nobody in their right mind would live there. The progression since 2011 has been even more significant. I can tell you for a fact that areas that were dangerous or unpopulated near the arena in 2011 are now relatively safe and full of young people transplanted from northern areas who may be hockey fans.

 

[varsaku]

they also started in the best possible scenario you could ask for.

1. they get the bump in attendance all new teams get

2. they get the bump in attendance from getting to play in a brand new billion dollar stadium

They were doing really good attendance wise even before moving to the new stadium

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Another 43,000 two days ago and they clinched a spot in the playoffs. There's talk that if there's a home game, they won't cap the seats so they can go for 70,000 again.

To me, a lot of this is ownership. All you need to know is that, when A$G bought the team, the attendance was 16,200. When they sold it, it was around 13,000 and change. It declined about 800 people per year after the purchase. It was public knowledge that they wanted nothing to do with the team. Arthur Blank, on the other hand, is an Atlanta legend with huge momentum (a currently great Falcons team, brand new stadium, and now a playoff bound United team).

 

[nhlfan79]

They've already announced they're opening the upper deck for their regular season finale on October 22 vs. Toronto FC on a Sunday afternoon. They'll get north of 65,000+ if not sell it out entirely.

 

[Puckstuff]

No team in world sports history stepped into a a 1.5 billion dollar stadium there first year. They have a great product on the field, a great logo, great coach, great players. There coach was recently the coach of Barcelona and also coached Argentina, so they were able to get great players. They really cracked the code on every single front. The NFL success helped them a lot as well with the ability to move into a stadium like that. Lastly, MLS is booming so timing is very important as well

 

[PCSPounder]

Atlanta is a younger market. Not as likely to have NHL-level disposable income. AUFC tickets aren't as expensive, and the younger market is far more attuned to the sport than the generation older than them.

Whereas, say, the Hurricanes (in an even younger market than Atlanta) are another matter.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Thrashers had ownership that didnt want them.

Arthur Blank has been one of the best owners in MLS.

End of story. Atlanta would have worked if someone like Arthur Blank owned the team.

 

[NSHPreds1835]

Thrashers had ownership that didnt want them.

Arthur Blank has been one of the best owners in MLS.

End of story. Atlanta would have worked if someone like Arthur Blank owned the team.

I know some people were wanting Mr.Blank to step in and buy the Thrashers when they were up for sale.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

I know some people were wanting Mr.Blank to step in and buy the Thrashers when they were up for sale.

Without control of the arena it wasn't happening.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

To be fair there are more youths playing soccer in Montreal than hockey.

ASG was controlled by basketball snobs that had ZERO interest in hockey and then were horrified that affluent white fans were buying hockey tickets and not basketball and Hawks games were attracting more black fans to their liking. The Thrashers were long gone before the leaked emails from Hawks ownership showed how racist they were.

I have no doubt that Atlanta would work in the NHL with the right ownership. The Flames left Atlanta mainly because Calgary oil barons were horrified that Edmonton's WHA team joined the NHL and they overpaid to buy the Flames.

ASG's fatal mistake was not looking at the Thrashers as an asset and not a liability. The best formula for this is New York where MSG ownership leaves the Rangers alone while constantly meddling with the Knicks.

Atlanta is for lack of a better term an unique market. The Braves fled to the suburbs but the new soccer team enticed those same suburban fans to go downtown. Maybe somebody in Atlanta reading this can explain why MARTA never built a subway stop near Turner Field, Olympic Stadium or Fulton Stadium????

Most cities that have hosted the Olympics take great pains to preserve the legacy. Go to Atlanta today and you will be hard pressed to see any legacy from the 1996 games.

Were the ASG owners black? How were they racist?

 

[Fenway]

Were the ASG owners black? How were they racist?

That was proven a few years later when emails leaked out. The owners were concerned black fans going to Hawks games were keeping the affluent white fans away.

Plan to sell entirety of NBA's Hawks approved

Levenson announced in September he was selling his stake in the team after the disclosure of an email he wrote two years ago. The email contained inflammatory racial comments, including his theory the team struggles with attendance because "the black crowd scared away the whites."

Levenson's email was uncovered in the Hawks' internal investigation of racial comments by general manager Danny Ferry, who remains on an indefinite leave. Ferry's future with the team is expected to be determined by the new owner.

 

[NSHPreds1835]

I think Atlanta United is also benefiting from the fact that the MLS is a much younger league and with Atlanta being a big destination for transplants, those transplants may not have brought a soccer allegiance with them.

 

[ziggyjoe212]

NHL better get used to this. The MLS is a better run league and appeals to a MUCH larger base of potential fans. Hockey is a VERY niche sport.

Top 3 leagues are obviously NFL, NBA, MLB. I'd say MLS is 4 and NHL is 5. Not a good sign for the future of the game.

The NHL is incredibly popular in areas with NHL teams. Hockey may not exist in Alabama or or Iowa but it's HUGE in places like Pittsburgh, Boston, San Jose, etc.

NHL may be the 4th most popular sports league in the USA, but it's #2-3 in every NHL city (it'll never surpass NFL anywhere).

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

NHL may be the 4th most popular sports league in the USA, but it's #2-3 in every NHL city (it'll never surpass NFL anywhere).

I'm going to venture a guess that, in cities with all 4 leagues present, that this statement is completely false. And the cities where there are 3, the NHL is a distant 3rd.

 

[NSHPreds1835]

I'm going to venture a guess that, in cities with all 4 leagues present, that this statement is completely false. And the cities where there are 3, the NHL is a distant 3rd.

I think that depends on the city. The Penguins are probably 2nd only behind the Steelers in Pittsburgh, Detroit might be more of a hockey city despite having all 4.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

I'm going to venture a guess that, in cities with all 4 leagues present, that this statement is completely false. And the cities where there are 3, the NHL is a distant 3rd.

That is probably true in most cities but that is an entirely to definitive statement. There are definitely cities that the NHL isn't the last of the big sports. It just isn't the majority.

 

[Pilky01]

Soccer is easier to enjoy than hockey.

Tickets are cheaper. Games are shorter. Less total games. The sport is more relateable.