Tuesday night and the February air is filled with red smoke. Drums bang. Horns blare. Chants in both English and Spanish reverberate from inside the ground. This feels like a proper football match, but something’s different. As you look to your right you see a handful of the blue-clad faithful of Motagua, who made the long journey from Honduras. To your left is nothing but red, black, gold, and a chicken wing on the ground. Yup, this is Atlanta all right. And it is a proper football match; The CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 to be exact. So where is everyone?
If you’ve ever been to an MLS match at The Benz in Atlanta, or CenturyLink Field in Seattle, or in Kansas City, Portland, or LA, among others, you know that the league is on the rise. There’s passion, appreciation, and knowledge of the game among fans all over the country. The quality of players, coaches, and front offices is improving every year. Now Major League Soccer teams are looking to take the next step by challenging Liga MX as the best in the region. That means winning the CCL.
Mexican teams have dominated this tournament throughout its history, but in 2020 it finally feels like one of LAFC, Atlanta, Seattle, or NYCFC could finally breakthrough. (Sorry Montreal. At least you’ve got Thierry Henry as your manager?) And if one of those sides can pull it off it will be a huge deal. It not only means getting that little bit closer to being the best league in North America but also earning a spot at the Club World Cup. What an immense boost it would be for league recognition to have competitive matches against the likes of Liverpool or Barcelona. So yeah, for this league and its fans these matches mean a lot.
Why then did fewer than 9,000 people show up to the Atlanta United vs. Motagua match?
For a club that leads the league in attendance with over 50,000 fans a game, that turnout is nearly as ludicrous as its explanation. So I’ll just drop this in here; there was a monster truck rally at Atlanta United’s home stadium the same day as their Champions League tie. So, the match was moved to the home of ATL United 2, and Kennesaw State University’s Fighting Owls, Fifth Third Bank Stadium, capacity- 10,000, location- not in Atlanta. Contradictory and confusing stadium names aside, that’s just poor planning. The most important, most international, most brand expanding competition the club plays in all year is relegated (shouts to Pro/Rel) to a tiny venue where I once saw a hot air balloon festival with all the balloons roped to the ground so that they could never rise higher than 20 feet. So disappointing, but that’s neither here nor there. How can an organization that prides itself on setting the standard in this league not play their Champions League matches at a proper stadium? How can the league not understand the value of showing 50,000 fans in a state-of-the-art stadium to a broader audience?
If Club America advances (they’re level on goal difference with Communication as I write this) then they will be Atlanta United’s next opponent in the quarterfinals. Imagine if you will, Atlanta or any MLS team traveling to play a huge club in Liga MX at The Azteca, the most foreboding venue on the continent. Maybe you play well and snatch a point. You feel good. You’re heading home for the second leg in your own huge stadium with massive support. The playing field is level. Now keep imagining, because when that game actually happens it will once again be held at Fifth Third Bank Stadium. This is a massive missed opportunity for Atlanta United, who are forfeiting an advantage they should have, for the league who could showcase this battle between two continental giants, and for MLS fans who deserve to see their clubs shown the same level of respect as the best teams in Mexico.
If MLS wants to be one of the best leagues in the world, it has to start treating itself as such. It would be unthinkable for Real Madrid to play a Copa Del Rey match at the local high school because the Bernabeu was booked for the day. And the King’s Cup isn’t as important in the grand scheme of things to that club as the CCL is to any MLS team. So let’s not dig our own grave by letting opportunities slip by simply because Grave Digger is coming to town.
Author: Joe Whitlock is a purveyor of words. He sells his copy for rent and beer money. Everything else you get for free. He’s loved soccer since he was 8 and became an Arsenal fan when Dennis Bergkamp scored that amazing goal against Argentina in the ‘98 World Cup. Being from Atlanta, he naturally got a Five Stripes tattoo while listening to Outkast and eating at Waffle House as soon as the team was announced. Follow him @wordjerk on Instagram and nothing else because Twitter is just too much.