This is a good post and, I think, very fair to what Atlanta is and isn’t.
Namely, it is not a traditionally-oriented city where everything converges on downtown. “Downtown” as a concept barely exists there, compared to most other cities. Downtown is a half-developed, poorly accessible area that one only goes if forced by business duties, or as an out-of-town tourist. It’s not really all that central to the cultural life of the city, and therefore not the default location for amenities.
I will be transparent and say, I think Atlanta sucks a lot for a city its size. It’s chaotic and poorly planned on every level, largely stemming from being so completely dominated by highways. On a practical level it’s more of a conglomeration of independent suburbs than an actual unified city with an identity and a heart. Living in Marietta or Norcross is only very nominally living “in Atlanta”.
This all makes it really tough to sell people on the idea of season tickets to a downtown arena. And having the arena out in the burbs makes it really tough to connect them with any sense of shared identity. It’s a weird dynamic. I think there’s potential there, and that Atlanta is just as viable as Tampa or Dallas, but it’s not as simple as slapping an arena in the clearly-defined downtown of those cities. This is closer to a Glendale or Ft Lauderdale type of situation where the organization actually needs to bring something marketable to the table if they want to be successful. “It’s hockey, buy our expensive tickets” is not going to get it done, there needs to be an actual competitive team on the ice this time.
