Major League Soccer is closing in on a deal with

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ATLANTA -- Major League Soccer is closing in on a deal with Falcons owner Arthur Blank to bring an expansion franchise to Atlantas new downtown stadium. Cheap Air Max Free Shipping . The team would likely begin play in 2017, when the $1 billion retractable roof stadium is set to open next to the Georgia Dome to provide a new home for the NFL Falcons. "Our discussions with Major League Soccer continue, but we do not have a final agreement at this time," Kim Shreckengost, the chief administrative officer for Blanks AMB Group, said Tuesday in an email to The Associated Press. "We hope to complete the agreement soon, at which time we will make a formal announcement." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported that a new team will be announced April 16. "We are continuing discussions with Arthur Blank to bring a Major League Soccer expansion team to Atlanta," said Dan Courtemanche, a spokesman for MLS. "However, we have not finalized an agreement at this time." The MLS has long coveted the Atlanta market, the largest in the U.S. without a team, as it moves toward its goal of expanding to 24 franchises. The 19-team league has already announced expansion franchises in New York City and Orlando that are scheduled to begin play next season, in addition to a provisional franchise in Miami owned by a group that includes David Beckham. That team is contingent on a deal for a new soccer-specific stadium in south Florida. There are no such concerns in Atlanta, where the Falcons new stadium was designed to accommodate an MLS team, providing Blank with additional revenue streams for the elaborate facility. While most MLS teams are moving toward smaller stadiums that are built solely for soccer, the Atlanta franchise would follow the model of teams in Seattle and Vancouver, which play in larger facilities downsized to provide a more intimate setting. For instance, Vancouvers BC Place has a curtain system that blocks off the upper deck, reducing capacity from 54,000 to 21,000. Atlantas new stadium will likely have a similar capability. Atlanta had two franchises in the old North American Soccer League. The Chiefs won the leagues first championship in 1968 but folded after the 1973 season, having spent their final year known as the Apollos. The Chiefs returned to the NASL in 1979 when the Colorado Caribous moved to Atlanta. That incarnation lasted only three seasons, never drawing as many as 8,000 fans a game before folding due to heavy financial losses. Atlanta has a team in a new version of the NASL, a league that ranks below MLS on the U.S. soccer ladder. The Silverbacks play at a 7,500-seat stadium on the outskirts of the city and are apparently not involved in talks on the MLS expansion team. Nike Air Max 2019 Running Shoes . The Tiger-Cats announced on Friday the linebacker has signed a new contract with the team through the 2016 season. Nike Air Max 2019 . The post-season, Pierce said repeatedly, is no time to panic. And the Heat, apparently, are nothing to fear. http://www.cheapairmaxshoesofficial.us/ . After just two league games in June, Toronto (6-4-1) will go on to play seven in July plus a friendly against Tottenham. Five of those contests are against Eastern Conference opposition, meaning valuable points in the playoff race are on the line.MINNEAPOLIS -- Yoenis Cespedes knew how to pace himself in this rain-delayed home run derby, drawn out further by a new format. The Oakland Athletics outfielder simply trusted his own strength. Cespedes became the first repeat winner of the All-Star skills contest in 15 years, powering his way past Cincinnatis Todd Frazier 9-1 in the final round Monday night. Ken Griffey Jr. took the title in 1998 and 1999. With a serious, determined look on his face the whole time, Cespedes finished with 28 homers. That was four fewer than last year, when he beat Washingtons Bryce Harper 9-8 in the final round. The 28-year-old Cuban even told Athletics teammate Josh Donaldson he was doing this wrong. "I knew he wasnt going to win because his mentality was to take the ball out of the stadium, and I told him that is not the way you win this competition," Cespedes said through an interpreter. He added: "Im somebody whos very conscious of the power that I have. So I dont need to put more of a swing or more of an effort in order to hit a home run. I just have to look for a good pitch and put a good swing on it, and it usually takes care of it." Cespedes saved his best for last, a 452-foot blast to the third deck above left field that officially measured as the longest of the night. As third base coach Mike Gallego again pitched to Cespedes, who went deep 32 times in last years derby at Citi Field in New York. Gallegos arm looked nearly out of gas by the final round, which started after 10:30 p.m. local time. "Maybe next year Ill put up a better showing at the end," Frazier said. "Now that I understand, maybe Ill do a couple of more push-ups." Cespedes topped Torontos Jose Bautista, and Frazier surprisingly beat Miamis Giancarlo Stanton in the semifinals. Bautista and Stanton each earned a bye to the semifinals under the new bracketed format, which gave each player seven outs and pitted the survivors from each side in the final round. Bautista went deep 10 times in the first round, keeping the fans in the second deck above left field on their toes, and Stanton hit six. That was all for him, though. After a long wait for his next turn, Stanton put up a zero in the semifinals and let Frazier advance with only one. Oh, but Stantons six were beauties. One landed in the thirrd deck above left field, about a half-dozen rows shy of the very top of the ballpark. Wholesale Air Max China. Another reached the second deck above the centre field batters eye, a place never touched by a ball during an actual game here. Bautista, the AL captain, has 11 home runs in 14 regular-season games here, the most by any visiting player. Thats only one less than Twins cornerstone Joe Mauer, who has played 284 career games at Target Field. Cespedes, who beat Donaldson in a tiebreaker after each finished with three in the first round, breezed by Baltimores Adam Jones in the second round. Frazier topped NL captain Troy Tulowitzki on the other side. Colorados Justin Morneau, the fan favourite after 10-plus years and four All-Star games for the host Twins, was eliminated in the first round. Morneau returned to his roots, and so did the event itself, considering the inaugural contest was held at the Metrodome before the 1985 All-Star game. Admission then was a mere $2, slightly less than the $200-and-up price tags on the derby these days. The original form was actually a 1960s-era television show, featuring sluggers like Harmon Killebrew of the Twins. Morneau is from New Westminster, B.C. Delayed 54 minutes by light rain on an unseasonably cool night -- even for Minnesota -- with a start-time temperature of 59 degrees, the contest began with a rainbow protruding from the clouds beyond left-centre field that framed this limestone-encased ballpark that opened in 2010. Frazier went first, and while he went deep twice, he didnt quite reach the rainbow. Neither did Twins second baseman Brian Dozier, the smallest of the participants who had the backing of the crowd with chants of his last name during his two-homer round. "Even my brother he said he got chills," said Dozier, one of seven first-time participants. His brother, Clay, was his pitcher. The loudest roars were for Morneau, the only left-hander in the event his year. His third derby appearance brought the fans to their feet with AC/DCs "Thunderstruck" blaring in the background, and he hit two in the first round before Frazier beat him in the three-swing tiebreaker. The only player shut out? Dodgers sparkplug Yasiel Puig. He was the first homerless participant since Robinson Cano two years ago in Kansas City. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '