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This afternoon, the Atlanta Sports Connection posted on their Facebook page that meetings went well with the North American Soccer League and the National Women's Soccer League commissioners today. They stated that planning is "steadily underway for ASC Sport's Center and our Soccer village."
The facility would be home to a proposed NASL franchise likely to be called the Atlanta Chiefs and a NWSL franchise called the Atlanta Vibe.
According to their website, the Atlanta Sports Connection "represents the forward thinking and dedication to the successful business practices." The organization was founded in 2009 and "incorporates all facets of a successful holding company by leveraging solid partnerships worldwide." They have been working on a sports complex, designs are posted on their website.
Also, the Atlanta Vibe website has been recently updated with more information about the proposed facility. It's Panola Road and would boast a stadium and 19 additional soccer fields.
The "soccer village" component appears to have been a more recent addition to the Atlanta Sports Connection complex. According to the Vibe's website:
A new sports complex off Panola Road that will not only be the home of the Vibe and the Chiefs, but also a tournament facility that will be the best host facility in the south, and one of the best in the world. This facility (which should break ground by the end of the year) would have a 10,000 seat stadium, 19 additional soccer fields, a full Sports Medicine facility – connected to the Hospital – a full non-specific indoor rectangular field, and multiple restaurants. This facility will become center of sports for the south. This link will show you a mockup of the south side of the facility – the changes since this version, the stadium will be soccer specific and will be enlarged to 10,000 seats, https://youtu.be/xNcOxw-r-TY. The north side of the road will have 19 soccer fields, and the south side of the road will be the stadium and the rest of the facility.
Pictures were posted after the meetings on the ASC Facebook page.
Included in the pictures were:
- Andy Smith, former president of the Atlanta Silverbacks NASL franchise
- Greg Griffith, executive director of Georgia Soccer
- Jay Leslie, Atlanta Land Group
- Dan Bell, sports marketing manager of DeKalb Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Bunmi Jinadu, United Soccer Africa
- Vaughn Irons, chairman of Development Authority of DeKalb County
- Trey Brantley, former president and CEO of Orotek and head of the Atlanta Vibe effort to bring NWSL to Atlanta