Now back to it. Is it really happening? Sure does sound like it. But it’s far from certain.

Atlanta may soon be plying their trade in the North American Soccer League (NASL) once more. Sources reveal that an ownership group has been trying to revive a brand new franchise in Georgia’s capital city for the last few months. But, the timing of the franchise is mired in confusion.

While the interest for a franchise exists, it remains unconfirmed whether it is NASL or USL bound. However, logic would suggest that NASL remains the more likely option, given USL-MLS ties and the Atlanta United FC team. Moreover, one source is convinced that the new team will be playing in NASL (if it exists).

Atlanta United FC are MLS’ latest expansion franchise — set to debut in the Eastern conference next season — coached by ex-Argentine and Barcelona-coach Tata Martino. And with 30,000 season tickets already sold, Atlanta United is seemingly ready for a strong debut season at the top tier of american soccer.

The new ownership group are unlikely to want to rock the boat by setting up a USL team in competition with the new MLS team.

Meanwhile, Atlanta Silverbacks — a club which was a part of the initial NASL breakaway league — has been a defunct NASL franchise since January 2016 due to problems finding appropriate ownership. Their NSPL team, on the other hand, has been playing in the South Atlantic conference of the NPSL since 2007.

The new Atlanta NASL franchise is reportedly being assisted by Georgia Soccer to help find an appropriate stadium.

The question does remain, would Atlanta be able to support 3 soccer teams in the metropolitan area?

Atlanta has a rich history within the beautiful game. The Atlanta Chiefs were a part of the original NPSL as well as NASL 1.0 , boasting players recognizable names such as Brian Kidd and Tony Whelan. And the city prides itself on its soccer community. Moreover, given a large hispanic/latino population (~5% of its ~500,000 total population), the interest in soccer continues to grow.

Additionally, current Silverbacks NPSL fans who are currently supporting the Silverbacks NPSL team would welcome the chance to return to NASL. Perhaps with a point to prove to rival supporter groups that mocked them with “Silverbacks are extinct” banners and chants.

The other wrinkle, of course, is the status of NASL itself. This deserves discussion elsewhere, but suffice to say that a Silverbacks expansion to NASL cannot happen without a healthy NASL itself! So, a lot rides on next week’s USSF meeting.

Suggestions are that this new team will revive the Chiefs name and are bankrolled by an unnamed real estate mogul who is new to the beautiful game.

In Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, John Hammond reintroduces dinosaurs into modern society. Perhaps this new real estate mogul will revive the extinct silverback. It would be amazing to see, even if he renames the new species “The Chiefs”. And, I, for one, will be the thrilled to see the new amusement park!

But, let’s not kid ourselves, this might be more complicated than extracting DNA out of a dead mosquito and gene editing it to produce a goddamn T-rex.