Atlanta United’s palatial and spacious home of Mercedes-Benz Stadium is the reason the team owns a lengthy list of MLS attendance records, including single-game, season-total, season-average, etc.
But on Saturday, when Atlanta United hosts Nashville, the 70,000-plus seat stadium will be empty in an attempt to minimize the potential to spread COVID-19.
But the team is going try to re-create a game-day atmosphere even without a red-and-black sea of humanity.
There won’t be a supporter’s section, but there will be banners.
There won’t be a live “A-T-L” chant and clap that engulfs the stadium, but there will be audio recorded from past games that will be played at the 40th and 80th minutes.
The Golden Spike won’t be hammered live, but a “community hero” hammering the spike has been taped and will be played in the stadium on the halo board and sent out on the team’s social-media channels.
There will be an image of the spike projected onto the big pylon in the stadium before the game. By using a hashtag on social media, supporters’ images may show up on the spike. It’s an attempt to re-create the signing of the spike that has taken place before past games.
There won’t be fireworks when a goal is scored, but the train whistle will blare. Also, the team is working on a way to use fan imagery on the halo board when a goal is scored.
The team has recorded the noise made by supporters from past games and will play it throughout the game in an attempt to make the players feel as normal as possible. The noise will be picked up by Fox Sports South, which is broadcasting the game. The team played the pre-recorded noise during a training session at the stadium. The players liked it.
“What I’ve realized is during this time is football without fans isn’t the same,” Atlanta United centerback Fernando Meza said. “We are professionals, so we have to be 100 percent all the time. That energy we got from the fans in the stadium is unexplainable.”
That lack of supporters and its osmosis-driven energy may be a small part of why Atlanta United played so poorly in its games in the MLS tournament in the bubble in Orlando. There were giant digital boards with the images of fans, but there no actual fans at the Wide World of Sports Complex. The team lost all three games and failed to score. It often had trouble even creating a shot.
When at home, and in front of its supporters, Atlanta United is 35-7-10 in the past four seasons.
“Playing games without fans is different,” midfielder Emerson Hyndman said. “We did it in Orlando. You have to hype yourself up a bit more. Get yourself in the mood without that backing.
The team must find a way to hype itself because at minimum its next three home games, and any games it hosts in September, will be played without supporters present. Its road game at Nashville on Sept. 12 also will be played without supporters in the stands. Nashville announced that Tuesday. Orlando on Wednesday announced that it will allow a limited number of supporters in Exploria Stadium. Inter Miami has also yet to announce its decision for its home, Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale.
“Fans will be watching (on Saturday), and we know that we have to put in a performance that our supporters deserve,” Hyndman said.
Atlanta United MLS regular-season single-game attendance records
1. 72,548, Aug. 3, 2019, L.A. Galaxy, 3-0
2. 72,243, July 15, 2018, Seattle, 1-1
3. 72,035, March 11, 2018, D.C. United, 3-1
4. 72,017, Sept. 22, 2018, Real Salt Lake, 2-0
5. 71,932, June 30, 2018, Orlando, 4-0
6. 71,874, Oct. 22, 2017, Toronto, 2-2
7. 71,812, Oct. 21, 2018, Chicago, 2-1
8. 70,425, Sept. 16, 2017, Orlando, 3-3
9. 70,382, March 10, 2019, Cincinnati, 1-1
10. 69,301, March 7, 2020, Cincinnati, 2-1
Atlanta United MLS playoff records
1. 73,019, Dec. 8, 2018, Portland, 2-0
2. 70,526, Nov. 11, 2-18, NYCFC, 3-1
3. 70,016, Nov. 25, 2018, Red Bulls, 3-0
5. 67,221, Oct. 26, 2017, Columbus, 0-0 (1-3 penalties)
6. 66,114, Oct. 19, 2019, New England, 1-0
Atlanta United MLS season-average records
1. 53,002, 2018
2. 52,510, 2019
3. 48,200, 2017
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Atlanta United coming games
Saturday vs. Nashville, 7 p.m. (Fox Sports South)
Aug. 26 at Miami, 8 p.m. (Fox Sports South)
Aug. 29 vs. Orlando, 3:30 p.m. (Univision)
Sept. 2 vs. Miami, 7 p.m. (FS1)
Sept. 5 at Orlando, 8 p.m. (Fox)
Sept. 12 at Nashville, 8:30 p.m. (Fox Sports South)
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