The US Soccer headquarters will be moved from Chicago to Atlanta, and a new training center will be built in Atlanta to accommodate its women’s and men’s national teams, as well as its nine extended teams. This move was made possible by a $50 million donation from Arthur Blank. In a statement, Major League Soccer (MLS) commissioner Don Garber celebrated the move by stating “Arthur Blank and Atlanta United, along with countless fans and many public and private partners, have shown that Atlanta has become a true soccer city and will be the perfect home for our federation.”
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is thrilled about the move. Dickens said “Atlanta is a sports town, and just like soccer in America, we are dynamic, diverse and passionate. There is no better place for this sport to call home during such a critical time. On behalf of the people of Atlanta, we are extremely honored to welcome U.S. Soccer to our community and look forward to this new partnership and our city becoming even more of a soccer destination than it already is.”
The new training center will provide elite facilities for training, development, recovery and performance analysis. The training center will also include accessible locker rooms and training facilities to support the Cerebral Palsy, Deaf, and Power Soccer National Teams, which are part of the nine U.S. Extended National Teams.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport will be a huge advantage to the location of the new headquarters. The airport will make it easy for players from around the world to travel to and from their clubs, as well as making year-round training possible since it is one of the busiest airports in the world. The approximately 200-acre site for the facility has not yet been publicly identified, but the project team is prioritizing historically underserved areas on the south and west sides of Atlanta with convenient airport access.
This move will have a large impact on Atlanta. For example, the money from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation will benefit Soccer in the Streets, as well as other benefit soccer-focused non-profits in Atlanta. The money will allow for more community programming, better training, and expert coaches for these local underserved communities.