Good news for Atlanta soccer fans!
On October 23, 2017, MLS
Commissioner Don Garber, together with Atlanta United Owner Arthur Bank and
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed all join in one photo after a press conference. At the
press conference, an announcement was proclaimed to assign the Mercedes-Benz
Stadium as the host of the 2018 MLS All-Star Game.
The Atlanta United OwnerArthur Blank says he doesn’t worry about the audience for the All-Star Game, “I don’t think we have to worry about selling
out the stadium for the All-Star game.”
Arthur Blank further
thanks Atlanta, as well as the fans for supporting them as well as patronizing
the sport.
Many details regarding the
upcoming game are not yet discussed. One thing is for sure right now, that it’s
going to be a week of free concerts and soccer-related events. The game is a
two-week event, which will start from the last week of July until the first
week of August.
The league commissioner
Don Garber also says they will announce the opponent soon after deciding who
will be that be.
The Atlanta United manager
Gerardo Martino will take charge in managing the MLS All-Stars. According to
him, he wants the Newell’s Old Boys to be the opponent for the game.
Tickets will be released
right after deciding who will be the opponent.
The much-awaited game will
take place on the artificial turf of Mercedes-Benz.
The host of the festivals
will be the International Plaza.
The site of the Homegrown
Game is still an ongoing discussion as well. The site showcases the best
academy products coming from the league’s teams against the products of another
club.
The 2018 MLS All-Star Game
will be another significant sports event that will be held at Mercedes-Benz.
Other upcoming events that will take place in the stadium include the college
football national championship game in 2018, Super Bowl in 2019, and the
college basketball Final Four in 2020.
This supports the statement
of Atlanta Sports Council President Dan Corso, “Atlanta is built to host major sports events.”
The reason behind choosing
Atlanta as the host is because of Atlanta United’s record of selling 71,874 MLS
tickets for Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Toronto. For the upcoming 2018 MLS event,
Atlanta United President Darren Eales expresses their eagerness to beat another
attendance record.
The Monday event began
with showing a video montage which showcased a number of captured moments of
Atlanta United’s eight-game history in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It also captured
precious moments captured from previous MLS All-Star games.
Every speaker of the event
expressed that they are fascinated with what they see with Atlanta United fans.
They saw the increasing passion of Atlanta for soccer.
Garber thanks everyone in
Major League Soccer after this statement, “Launch
of this team is the most impressive expansion team launch in the history of
professional sports. It’s a testament to Blank’s vision and leadership, as well
as that of Eales, Martino and (Carlos) Bocanegra.”
Garber reveals that there
are four cities considered to host the MLS All-Star Game and Atlanta was one of
these.
In preparation for the
event, 30 Atlanta United employees went to Chicago to have their observation
regarding the different facets of this year’s All-Star week.
Eales concludes, “I think Atlanta is one of the top cities in
the world in terms of sporting cities and the capabilities. We saw the All-Star
game as a real chance to not just only focus on the game itself but on the
events itself and make it a real week of celebration.”
To know more about this story, read Gwinnett Daily Post.
To know more about this story, read Gwinnett Daily Post.