If the NWSL did come to Atlanta, it wouldn’t be the first time the city fielded a women’s team. Both of the league’s predecessors – Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) and Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) – fielded teams in Atlanta.

The Atlanta Beat of WUSA was active from 2001 through 2003 and twice made it to the championship game. The team featured U.S. women’s national team stars Briana Scurry and Cindy Parlow, and China’s Sun Wen. They played games on the campuses of Georgia Tech and Morris Brown College. When the league folded after three seasons in 2003, so did the Beat.

But a new version of the Beat resurfaced with the launch of WPS. The new Beat began play in 2010 and featured popular USWNT players Hope Solo and Carli Lloyd. The Beat lasted just two seasons, closing up shop when WPS folded in 2012.

One thing the Beat helped accomplish was the building of a soccer stadium near the campus of Kennesaw State University. A public-private partnership between the club and the university paved the way for the 10,500-seat Fifth Third Bank Stadium in 2010.

While it’s a soccer-specific stadium – with seats close to the playing surface, which is made of hybrid grass – it has been home to several teams since the Beat folded. Kennesaw State’s football, women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse teams play there, as do the Atlanta Blaze of Major League Lacrosse. This season, Atlanta United’s USL Championship affiliate, ATL UTD 2, began playing its home matches there, too. Near Fifth Third Bank Stadium are also several grass and turf practice pitches.

If the NWSL does decide to expand to Atlanta, finding a facility to house the team should be the least of its worries.