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Darren Eales: United Has a Chance to be Atlanta’s Club

By John Buhler

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Darren Eales, Club President of the newly christened Atlanta United FC soccer franchise set to begin play in March 2017 appeared on The Front Row on 680 The Fan yesterday with Steak Shapiro, Sandra Golden, and Brian Finneran to discuss the excitement surrounding Atlanta’s expansion MLS franchise.  Eales’ appearance on The Front Row came on the heels of Tuesday’s official name and logo reveal prior to the CONCACAF Gold Cup Semifinals being held at the Georgia Dome.

-= Related: Atlanta United FC: The Name of Our New MLS Team =-

Darren Eales said that United FC has over 22,000 season ticket holders and the cap of 30,000 is rapidly approaching.  The 30,000 tickets will fill the lower bowl at New Atlanta Stadium.  Though the curtains on the upper bowl can come down if need be, Eales believes that an intimate setting at first will only bolster the expansion team’s already rabid fan base.

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He told The Front Row that Atlanta United FC will partake in an expansion draft in December 2016, where Eales and Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra can take 10 players from the 20 existing MLS franchises.  Each club can protect up to 11 players on its roster, so in theory Atlanta will take half of the league’s 12th best players.  Eales did say that United FC will also be able to bring 8 international players on its roster.

I think that going international for the club’s best players is the way to go since there is a three player exception to the MLS Salary Cap of $4 Million.  That means Darren Eales and Carlos Bocanegra can in theory pay for 3 top-tier free agents to play for Atlanta.  The LA Galaxy did this with David Beckham and now Steven Gerrard.  New York City FC recently used this salary cap exception on Frank Lampard.

Darren Eales was bursting with excitement when talking about how New Atlanta Stadium can and will accommodate both the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC when the team’s seasons overlap in Fall 2017.  He explained that part of the front of the new stadium with retract, allowing the gridiron to become a regulation sized pitch for the United.

When asked about the franchise’s name, Eales stated, “This team’s got a chance to be Atlanta’s club, Atlanta’s team for the whole city.  So this idea of United being a classic name, that was where the name came from.”.  Most people would agree that there was not a no-brainer name for this franchise, but the affinity for a ‘classic name’ never seemed to go away.  And with this new, incredible logo, I don’t see why the entire Atlanta region cannot get behind its newest Football Club here in the coming months.

Next: Atlanta United FC Formally Introduces Name, Logo

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