By FRANCO PANIZO
The expansion noise in Atlanta just will not die down.
A week after the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons released images of their new stadium that included one of a soccer field with the MLS logo clearly visible in the background, more pictures were dropped on Tuesday. This time, however, a rendering of the seating chart for MLS games was included and the capacity listed in that image is 31,085.
While that number comes as a result of the upper tiers of the now-$1.2 billion stadium being covered with tarps, it is still pretty high considering that the largest soccer-specific stadium in MLS, Red Bull Arena, holds approximately 25,000 fans.
Another bit of relevant news that came out regarding the Atlanta stadium that is set to open in 2017 is that the Falcons have reportedly decided that the playing surface will be turf and not grass. The debate of turf over grass is a popular one in MLS, with many people wanting to see turf fields abolished altogether in the league.
Atlanta has not been given an MLS expansion club, but the Georgia capital continues to be in the conversation for one along with fellow southeast cities Orlando and Miami.
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What do you make of the new Atlanta stadium’s seating chart rendering for MLS games? Is 31,000-plus too large of a number for a potential expansion club in the southeast? Disappointed to hear the Falcons chose turf over grass?
Share your thoughts below.