Atlanta United will kick off in MLS on the campus of Georgia Tech after the 2017 expansion side announced Wednesday it will play its opening home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Atlanta United names Gerardo Martino as coach
Gerardo Martino's side previously planned to play the first three months of the MLS campaign on the road while awaiting the summer completion of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a multi-purpose venue the team will share with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons.
The home of the Georgia Tech football team, Bobby Dodd Stadium is a 55,000-seat venue in downtown Atlanta.
In a news release, Atlanta United cited a desire "to be as competitive as possible from Day 1" as the rationale behind "playing a normalized schedule with a balanced slate of home games." Martino, hired as the club's first coach last week, was briefed on the stadium situation during contract negotiations and approved of the decision.
United announced in August it has already sold more than 22,000 season tickets for the club's inaugural campaign.
"Our aim is to build a championship caliber soccer club and to be as competitive as we can from the start," United president Darren Eales said. "With the amount of excitement we’ve seen for the club, especially over the past few months as our season ticket sales have continued to rise, it was evident that playing at home for the first part of the season was in the best interest of our fans and our players."