With Atlanta United set to for its inaugural match on Sunday, almost three years after the city was originally granted an MLS franchise, the origin story has been written. It doesn't mean it won't be retold over and over again this season.
The club announced its local broadcast partner, Fox Sports South, but it will be featured nationally something like 14 times in its first season, meaning fans won't have a hometown crew providing more in-depth analysis every week. Instead we'll basically get the same script from FS1 and ESPN crews.
We already know the talking points of the buildup to March 5, so here's what you can expect to hear in the pregame if you're tuning in from home.
[Opens on camera shots of
half-filled Bobby Dodd with Atlanta United fans slowly filling in
bleacher seats. As talking heads begin narrating the establishing
scene we are already watching, camera pans to tailgates outside the
stadium around the Georgia Tech campus. More shots of Atlanta United fans
yelling and waving flags.]
Talking head 1:
...boy, I could sure go for a
Varsity Orange right now. But with that let's move to the action, you
can see the squads already out on the pitch warming up on this spring-like March Sunday in downtown Atlanta. What are you looking for today?
Talking head 2:
I'm looking for
excitement. This town is excited to see some soccer. We have over
50,000 fans in the seats here at Historic Grant Field and Bobby Dodd
stadium, 30,000 of those are season ticket holders we can expect
to see back every week. Coach Tata Martino, Technical Director Carlos
Bocanegra and President Darren Eales have built this team to provide
that excitement I'm looking for with a full throttle offense and I'm for one am ready to see it
in action.
Talking head 1:
Me too. Me too. They
have a long haul ahead of them if they want to become only the second
expansion team in modern MLS history to make the playoffs in its
first season. And on opening day they have a tough test.
Talking head 2:
They sure do. The New York
Red Bulls have been one of the best teams in the Eastern conference
the last two seasons and are probably already tired of hearing how
good this Atlanta United team is. At least how good they are on
paper. The Red Bulls have had some offseason turmoil in losing its
technical director and architect Ali Curtis, the team did not make
any big name signings and traded away its captain Dax McCarty. But
they want to prove that even through all that they are still the team
to you have to go through in the East if you want to be a competitor.
Talking head 1:
Right you are. New York is
a great team and I think they may have a chip on their shoulder
seeing as how Atlanta United has borrowed their old Metrostars look
with the red and black stripes.
Talking Head 2:
hohohohohohahahahoho
Talking head 1:
hahahohoho
Talking head 2:
hohohohoh
Talking head 1:
hohoho joking aside
Atlanta United may have their own chip in the form of owner Arthur
Blank, who saw his other sports franchise, the Atlanta Falcons, lose
in heartbreaking fashion in this year's Super Bowl.
Talking head 2:
Talking with fans prior to
the game, it sure seems like many of them are pinning their hopes for
the city's first sports championship since the 1995 Atlanta Braves on
this Atlanta United squad. Maybe not this year necessarily...
Talking head 1:
That would be a tall
order. hohoho
Talking head 2:
hohoh it sure would be.
But they are very optimistic that this front office and coaching
staff have what it takes to build a championship level team.
Talking head 1:
If you find yourself in
Vegas would you put money on an Atlanta United championship?
Talking head 2:
hohoho I'm not a betting
man but I'd be crazy to bet against Tata Martino.
Talking head 1:
Right. Now you said you
spoke with fans about their expectations for the club. What about the
players? How are they feeling in year one that their fans are already
expecting so much?
Talking head 2:
Yeah, the players know how
much the fans are already invested in the team and are taking it all
in stride. Even though they've barely settled in the city and have
barely gotten to know each other they say there's a real theme in the
locker room and at the training facility that they want to do
something special for the fans because they have cared so much even
before playing a game.
Talking head 1:
And with that let's see
what it's like down on the players' level, checking in with our
sideline reporter.
Sideline reporter:
Thanks guys. I spoke with
some of the Atlanta United players and they said they are treating
today like any other game. When I brought up first game jitters I got
a lot of “no ways” but did get some responses like captain
Michael Parkhurst's who said it's the same feeling you get when you
start every season. Maybe some butterflies but it's all anticipation,
once the whistle blows that's when you're training kicks in.
Talking head 1:
No one getting caught up
in the pageantry of the inaugural game?
Sideline reporter:
If they are they haven't
let me know. These players have been living the
pageantry, as you said, since they arrived in Atlanta. Everything
they've done as part of this team has basically been a “first.”
Once Mark Geiger blows the whistle all that goes out the window.
Talking head 1:
Alright so they aren't
worried about the day's festivities, any concerns at all?
Sideline reporter:
No injury concerns.
Several players did mention the field width as a possible concern but
said they practiced with smaller fields to be prepared for their temporary home until Mercedes-Benz Stadium is completed later this year.
Talking head 1:
Great stuff from the
sideline, getting the inside scoop from Atlanta United on the field.
Now before we toss this to the coin flip and kickoff is there
anything else you want to add?
Talking head 2:
hohoho I'm ready for some
soccer! hohoho Let's do this hohohoho Let's see some goals for the
Five Stripes.
Talking head 1:
Yes indeed and we hope to
see that when we come right back.