Just outside of Fair Park, a new Dallas soccer club is hoping World Cup fans, or even just passersby, will join them for a pickup game.<\/p>\n
Atl\u00e9tico Dallas opened its street court on Exposition Avenue when FIFA Fan Fest kicked off last month. In the courtyard, visitors can watch matches on the big screen and buy drinks.<\/p>\n
The court will be open Saturday<\/a> during the World Cup quarterfinals. The games are free, and a pickup captain organizes them so kids and adults get a chance to play.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a glimpse of Atl\u00e9tico Dallas\u2019 plans in the neighborhood. The street court is one of at least six planned throughout Dallas, Atl\u00e9tico co-founder Sam Morton said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want as many people playing the game as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Den\u2019s patio will close for construction on the bar and restaurant after the World Cup. The court and building will fully open early next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Atl\u00e9tico\u2019s headquarters relocation comes as other sports teams are planning to leave the city\u2019s center.<\/p>\n \u201cWe felt that Dallas was such an incredible soccer market that it deserved and needed a men’s team,\u201d Morton said.<\/p>\n FC Dallas<\/a>, a Major League Soccer team, plays in Frisco, about 30 miles from downtown Dallas.<\/p>\n Atletico will play its first season in the United Soccer League Championship next year. Trinity FC, a professional women\u2019s club, plays in the Gainbridge Super League.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s neighborhood is entering a new era.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe see Expo Park becoming a destination on par with Lower Greenville, Bishop Arts, or the Stockyards, but with a character and sense of place that is unmistakably its own,\u201d developer Evan August said in a statement.<\/p>\n The Den\u2019s more than 125-year-old-building is among more than a dozen structures August Real Estate bought in recent years<\/a> to revitalize in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n