In 2018, the Bleacher Report declared Atlanta the “Black Soccer Capital of America” due to the emerging presence of African-Americans supporting Atlanta United. Soccer Aid, external, which was co-founded by Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes in 2006, sees celebrities and ex-professional footballers join forces in aid of Unicef. By December 2015, the supporters of the new MLS team had already pledged to purchase more than 29,000 season tickets. On October 5, 2017, the team announced they had sold more than 70,456 tickets for the October 22 match against Toronto FC. Although the club sought a balanced home-and-away schedule during their spell at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta United did not play any home matches from March 19 to April 29 to avoid conflicts with the Yellow Jackets’ spring football scrimmages.