Where do Atlanta rank among top expansion teams in North American sports?

Sam Stejskal

Atlanta United officially clinched their playoff berth on Wednesday, becoming the third expansion team in MLS history and the first since Seattle in 2009 to advance to the postseason.

The achievement wasn’t exactly a surprise – Atlanta spent heavily on their roster, and have been near or above the playoff line for the entire season. Once mid-August rolled around, it would’ve been more of a shock if the Five Stripes missed the playoffs than if they qualified.

While there wasn’t much suspense involved, Atlanta clinching a playoff berth was a necessary step for them to get into the “best expansion team ever” discussion. That space has long been occupied by those 2009 Seattle Sounders and the 1998 Chicago Fire teams, the latter which remarkably pulled off the MLS Cup/US Open Cup double in their inaugural season.

Atlanta (15W-8L-7D, 52pts) have missed the boat on the possibility of winning two trophies -- they were eliminated in the U.S. Open Cup and are out of the running for the Shield. For them, it’s now MLS Cup or bust.

A league championship would put them in the discussion with the Fire for title of greatest MLS expansion team of all-time and would leave them ahead of those 2009 Sounders (12W-7L-11D, 47pts), who they’ve probably already passed in the pantheon of greatest-ever inaugural MLS campaigns.

Even if they fall in their opening round of the playoffs, Atlanta are already among the greatest expansion teams in North American sports history. The 1966-67 Chicago Bulls are the only NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL expansion team to ever make the playoffs, and they were bounced in the first round after compiling a 33-48 regular season record. That’s not exactly at the level of Atlanta, who need just four points in their final four games to tie the 1998 Fire as the expansion team with the most points in MLS history.