Atlanta Soccer News: Art, Music and Culture: Atlanta MLS update: Team received deposits on 9,092 season tickets

Atlanta's entry into MLS is still three years away from playing its first game in a stadium that is not yet built, but the club recently announced as the league's 22nd team has already received deposits on 9,092 season tickets, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

As of Friday, 3,175 people have joined the Founder’s Club, putting down $50 for the right to be part of the group composed of the team’s first 5,000 supporters. Each Founder’s Club member has the right to purchase up to eight season tickets for the 2017 campaign. The $50 is refundable.

“I’m very excited about our progress,” Falcons owner Arthur Blanksaid in a statement. “In a little more than a week, we’re at more than 60 percent of the 5,000 fans who will have the opportunity to become founding members, and that’s three years before we play our first game.”

The strong early support for MLS in Atlanta goes against the conventional wisdom that Atlanta is a poor soccer market. Blank has stressed that there will be a separate demographic group interested in attending MLS matches than follows the Falcons.

But early numbers demonstrate the pent-up demand for Atlanta sports fans interested in getting tickets to the new stadium. The Falcons have built up one of the most solid base of support in the NFL.