In a major press event on Wednesday, Major League Soccer is expected to reveal that the league would be adding a 22nd team, and expand into Atlanta.

Over the past decade, MLS has managed to seamlessly integrate new teams into the league. There have been 10 expansion sides since 2005, and all have experienced a relatively healthy amount of success on and off the field (as long as you ignore Chivas and, let’s face it, everyone does). Expansion should be a positive sign — one of prosperity for a league which truly has prospered.

So why are there tremors of unrest as MLS unveils its plans to add four more new teams in the coming years? Well, it’s easy: Soccer fans are spoiled.

MLS has done too good of a job expanding, so when plans for teams in Miami, Orlando and now Atlanta came to light, fans got nervous. They were nervous because there already was a team in Miami from 1998-2001 and that team, along with the Tampa Bay Mutiny, was a disaster. Going back to Miami would mean drumming up attention in a city already apathetic to its professional sports teams, a city where soccer has already failed (even though they played in North Fort Lauderdale).

With the help of David Beckham, Miami will be able to attract the talent necessary to build a team not only capable of competing but also attracting fans. The Miami franchise will be bolstered by the presence of the Orlando expansion team. But what of Atlanta? It’s a transient city that has run out an NHL team and sent its MLB team for the suburbs.

It looks bad on paper, but Atlanta is in a word: Perfect.

Why?

1. Geography

Look at an MLS map and you will see regional clusters. Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, San Jose. Washington, Philadelphia, New York.

But if you look at that same MLS map, you will notice that there are no teams south of D.C. United. But simply throwing a couple teams in Florida didn’t work once, so why would it work again? It wouldn’t, and Atlanta provides the necessary bridge. A successful franchise in Atlanta also opens up the possibility of future expansion into North Carolina, which has been a staple in college soccer for over two decades.

2. Size

Quick: What is the largest North American market without an MLS club?

Atlanta.

There are people, a lot of people, who won’t want to pay for an NFL ticket, or drive to the suburbs for MLB. MLS offers the unique opportunity to experience affordable, quality entertainment to a population who has proven it wants to watch soccer. A Mexico-Nigeria exhibition at the Georgia Dome in March sold 68.212 tickets. Even if you cut that number in half twice, Atlanta’s attendance would rank 12th out of 19 current teams.

3. The NFL

Falcons owner Arthur Blank is the driving force behind MLS expansion in Atlanta. This is relevant because Arthur Blank owns the one professional sports team Atlanta cares about. Blank is building a new stadium for the Falcons, which will be ready in 2017 and has said it would be designed to house the MLS team as well. The stadium would be a permanent home for the club, which is more than original franchises like D.C. and New England can say.

Atlanta makes sense for MLS. Even if it doesn’t feel right to some, it is a viable and in many ways necessary move to make. If soccer really is one of the fastest growing sport in America, and MLS really is the league of the future, it can’t pretend the southeast doesn’t exist.

MLS is making the play it must at the time it must.