MARIETTA, GA. – City of Marietta Mayor Steve Tumlin, wearing a seersucker suit and a wide smile, took his place behind a podium inside of what will become Metro Atlanta’s latest sports facility. The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) will have a franchise in Atlanta in time for the 2028 season, the year Atlanta and Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host the Super Bowl. The site where Tumlin was standing will be the home for the team’s training facility.
The NWSL franchise in Atlanta doesn’t have the name yet, but it does have a home.
“We look forward to being a part of everything that will make this successful, “ said Tumlin. “This was made to happen.”
The site for the NWSL Atlanta franchise is located across the street from the Franklin Gateway Sports Complex and a block away from where Atlanta United trains and holds its press conferences, the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground. Having both Atlanta United and the NWSL teams within a few hundred feet of one another creates a soccer corridor a few miles from downtown Atlanta.
Along with Tumlin, Atlanta United, Atlanta Falcons, and NWSL Atlanta owner Arthur Blank, and NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman were in attendance to shovel the dirt and take photos.
Blank thanked Tumlin and the Marietta City Council for signing off on the land deal for the site and for being good partners over the years. The Atlanta United training facility brought new life to the Franklin Gateway. Tumlin was equally as thankful to Blank, as 10 acres of the property will be going to the city for a community center.
The 33-acre training facility will house practice fields, a goalkeeper training area, an outdoor player amenity area, and an activation plaza. Without having seen the training facilities for the other 17 teams in NWSL, the Atlanta site feels like it will be a standard-setter for future sites.
Berman said AMBSE is no doubt rising the tide in NWSL. “A lot of the growth of the NWSL is in part due to the quality of our ownership,” Berman said. “When I look out on this empty field, I know with the speed and interest from this group, when I blink, there will be a beautiful training facility here.”
The large lot was once a future home for an IKEA. Now it will be one of three professional soccer training facilities within 30 miles of downtown Atlanta when the Arthur M. Blank United States National Training Center opens in Fayetteville, Georgia, on Thursday, May 7.
Before he headed to his seat, Tumlin turned to Blank, seated in the front row, and said, “Thanks for letting us unite in this effort.”
