Last weekend, we traveled to Atlanta for the 8th Annual Stadium Tour. Hubby and I had previously been to Atlanta to see the Braves at Turner Field, but they have since moved to SunTrust Park, so Atlanta counted as an official stadium tour destination. Atlanta won the MLS Cup last season and holds the record for Major League Soccer season attendance, so we were very excited to witness the Atlanta United experience at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The stadium is downtown, and was easy to walk to from our downtown hotel. It also was easily accessible from public transportation which is crucial in Atlanta, where traffic is notoriously horrible. However, there seemed to be ample parking, and a very lively early tailgating tradition in the Gulch (for $40 per car, which seemed ridiculous to me) so transportation doesn’t seem to be an issue.
I put a call out on social media for suggestions from fans about what we needed to do to have the best fan experience so we left for the stadium armed with a plan – see the players arrive, check out the tailgates in the Gulch, March to the Match, sign the spike, and have dinner at the concession stands. And watch the game, of course. But you know what they say about plans…
We arrived at the stadium about 90 minutes before kickoff, immediately saw and heard the tailgating in the Gulch, and started looking for a way to get down to the party on foot. As we walked, we noticed a bus stopped in front of the stadium, and saw the players getting off the bus! Fans cheered their arrival, and the players were ushered into the stadium. The players sign the golden spike before going to the locker room, but since we were outside the stadium and the crowd was decent, we couldn’t see where the players went. We started walking back to the Gulch, but after noticing the time, we abandoned that plan, deciding instead that we wanted to check out more of the stadium.
Let’s just get this out of the way – Mercedes-Benz stadium is home to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, and is an (American) football-first stadium, though it was designed to function as a soccer venue as well. It is primarily an enclosed stadium, though the “hole” in the roof was open for the game we attended, which means that the walk to seats consists of navigating wide concrete concourses on multiple levels. The very top sections were blocked off with Atlanta United banners, though these can be, and have been, used for additional seating. The stadium has 360 degree digital displays near the roof for live action viewing, replays, scores, and in-game facts, which most soccer stadiums don’t have. In fact, I caught myself watching the screens for extended periods of time rather than watching the in-game action on the field.
The atmosphere inside the gates was lively. There was a DJ playing music, and a lot of places fans had gathered to take pictures, including pictures with the MLS Cup. I thought the falcoln wearing the Atlanta United scarf was pretty funny.
We followed the crowd the golden spike to sign, which is a unique and meaningful tradition. The golden spike is symbolic of the birth of the city of Atlanta, when Atlanta residents built their own railroad to connect to the rest of the country, and stake its claim to growth and prosperity. For Atlanta United, the spike represents a movement by the fans to connect to the community and the world, and to stake their claim to soccer excellence. They bring the spike into the stadium before kick off and hammer it into the platform in front of the supporters section. Dominique Wilkens was the guest hammerer (is that a word?) at our game. After the game, the fans vote on a player to receive a golden spike, and the player hammers it into a railroad as well.
Signing the spike 
Stadium Tour 2019!!
The fan store inside the stadium is two stories, and carries both Atlanta United and Falcon gear inside. Bro-in-law bought his scarf and Hubby got a tshirt, and then we walked around the stadium more and scouted the food options. Naturally, we ended up getting food in the theme of bbq. Hubby and Sis both got brisket grilled cheese (delicious), bro-in-law ate pulled pork mac n cheese, and I got pork nachos (meh). The real find of the stadium, though, was the souvenir cup with unlimited soda/pop refills for $4. I don’t think I’ve had a single drink for $4 at a soccer match, let alone one with refills and a free cup!
We sat in the second to last row of the available seats, but that was for monetary not availability reasons. We paid more for those terrible seats than we have for any other stadium tour seat. We could still see everything, but we definitely felt a bit removed from the action because we were so high! Still, our section was focused on the game and participated in many of the cheers, which made it a fun atmosphere. About half of the people in the lower bowl of the stadium stood the whole game, but there were a LOT of empty seats in the stadium, and the supporters section was only three-quarters full. The final attendance was 43,005 (is that tickets sold, or tickets scanned?) which is a lot of people, and yet, the stadium still had 9,000 empty seats.
The supporters section sang and chanted through the whole game, but I couldn’t hear it at all times. They were raucous enough that they got the entire stadium chanting “A-T-L” and “Vamos vamos vamos ATL” several times, and when the whole stadium joins in, the atmosphere rivals any in sports. And, they have one of the greatest flags of all time!
The soccer itself was a little boring, at least in the first half. Atlanta sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and hadn’t won a home game yet. They played Colorado, the last place team in the Western Conference, who is still trying for their first win of the season. Hubby described the action in the first half as “Both teams are afraid to score.” The second half was a little bit better. From our vantage point, we could see Colorado in a definitive 5-4-1 formation, but Atlanta was able to get behind the defense a few times, and after a beautiful cross by Nagbe, Gressel scored! The stadium erupted! The game ended 1-0 and Atlanta had its first home win of the season!
I had high expectations for Atlanta United and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and while the stadium is awesome and the fans are enthusiastic, I was a little disappointed. The golden spike tradition is special, and I hope more teams find a way to integrate that into their traditions. Perhaps my expectations were unrealistic based on everything I had seen, heard, and read about Atlanta, but I was expecting every seat filled, and chants so loud that the stadium vibrated with energy the entire game. Even one of the fans I met through social media said it felt a little quiet compared to other games. I think the football stadium plays a role in the atmosphere too because there is a lot of empty space in the stadium when it is not at 100% capacity. And, as I mentioned before, I found myself watching the screens and looking at the random facts that were posted, rather than the action on the field. Those gimmicks work in football, when there is a lot of downtime during the game, but not in soccer.
If we were to return, and I think we will, I would definitely want to tailgate in the Gulch, and march to the match with the fans. I would probably get lower seats too, but that is dependent upon the team lowering prices so that they align with other teams in MLS. I think we saw an off day, with a team that is having a bad soccer year thus far. Like Orlando, the fan experience is largely dependent on the soccer on the field, and Atlanta needs to figure out how to play under their new coach, de Boer, and how to best utilize their new talent, Pity Martinez or I fear it will be a painful season for Atlanta United.
