SPORTS
Inside, there are six academy locker
rooms. The first team’s main locker room
is oval-shaped to emphasize unity, with
22-foot ceilings and 14 windows filling the
room with natural light.
The workout room has all the bells and
whistles for training, plus two in-ground
hydrotherapy pools and a recovery and
training bar.
For more substantial grub, the organization
has a full-service, 3,000-square
foot dining facility and terrace with an
open kitchen.
The 33-acre plot the Atlanta United
campus sits on is owned by the City of
FACTBOX
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Training Ground
Show pitch capacity:
2,500 in stands, plus pavilion
Number of fields: Six
Indoor square footage: 30,000
Cost: $60 million
86 FACTBOOK | 2022
Timbers at home. They were led to champion
status by striker Josef Martínez, who
was MLS MVP that season, and inaugural
manager Tata Martino.
United failed to make the playoffs for
the first time in 2020, with Martinez
out with a torn ACL. Their most recent
season hasn’t been much better, with
an eight-game losing streak leading to
the firing of manager Gabriel Henize.
Assistant Rob Valentino has been made
interim manager.
Atlanta United 2, the club’s reserve
team, plays in the United Soccer League.
Their home games are held in Cobb
County — specifically, Kennesaw State
University’s Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
The deal which brought Atlanta United
to Marietta also led to the creation
of the $11 million Franklin Gateway
Sports Complex just down the street.
The complex hosts three full-size soccer
fields with artificial turf, funded by a $68
million redevelopment bond approved by
city voters in 2013.
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Marietta and leased to United until 2041,
with options for extension. The team in
2019 bought an additional 17 acres from the
city for $9.6 million to expand the campus.
The soccer club made its MLS debut in
2017 after being announced in 2014. It is
owned by Arthur Blank, the billionaire
Home Depot co-founder who also owns
the Atlanta Falcons NFL team.
Before Mercedes-Benz Stadium was
finished, the team played at Bobby Dodd
Stadium at Georgia Tech. The club was an
instant hit, breaking several MLS attendance
records and making the playoffs in
its first year.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium has been mentioned
as a possible semifinal site for the
2026 World Cup, and could host as many
as a half-dozen games during the tournament.
Atlanta United’s Marietta facility
was scouted out as a possible practice site
when a FIFA group visited the U.S. a few
years ago.
Atlanta United clinched its first MLS
Cup in 2018, beating out the Portland
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