Stadium deal could have Falcons back outside by 2017
Falcons owner Arthur Blank, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti. (D. Orlando Ledbetter/DLedbetter@ajc.com)
The Falcons cleared a major hurdle today in their quest for a new outdoor stadium.
The Georgia World Congress Center Authority and the team have entered into one of those “memorandum of understanding” about the project.
Here is the stadium that Falcons provided to the AJC about the matter.
“The Georgia World Congress Center Authority commissioned and has received the results of the study performed by Populous regarding the potential for a new stadium on the Authority’s campus.
“The Authority has shared the report with us as part of our joint exploration of development options. The report addresses a number of topics that will be considered by the Authority and the Falcons as planning discussions move forward.
“We appreciate the Authority’s diligence in working through this process in a thorough and thoughtful manner. We continue to have open dialogue with the Authority on a range of topics and options, with the shared goal of working toward an agreement that is in the best interests of the community, our fans and all other stakeholders involved. At this point, no decisions have been made; therefore, we will have no further public comment at this time.”
Here is the news story on the stadium.
Check out the master plan, here.
Bundle up y’all, the Falcons could be back outside by the 2017 season.
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372 comments Add your comment
Marko
February 22nd, 2011
6:07 pm
As I understand it, The Falcons weren’t interested in installing a retractable roof on the dome. Did the Falcons really ask the fans what they wanted? I’m old enough to remember Atlanta Fulton county stadium. For the record freezing rain and artic winds aren’t as much fun as they’re made out to be.
VerySeasondHolder
February 22nd, 2011
6:11 pm
The article says the ‘Falcons’ want the building…really dude!? What abt the fans? we do not. want this! we have summer skin not northern Greenbay, Jets, NEngland skin. Horrible idea. And I guess I will watch the birds at home after 12 years of Defending The Dome.
NoLion
February 22nd, 2011
6:13 pm
you’ve got to be kidding me…. No money for Hope but money for this s….t…..This is all we need. Blank;s got the money to build it himself…why do the taxpayers have to pay for it.
blazerdawg
February 22nd, 2011
6:15 pm
For every hot/cold/rainy/snowy Sunday in Sept – Jan there are 10 days when it is between 50* – 75* under sunny Georgia blue skies!
Tom
February 22nd, 2011
6:16 pm
Would the ownership of the Falcon’s provide the fans who buy the tickets a say in this matter. Conduct a survey about an open air stadium. I feel few would be in favor and that is why the owners don’t want the feedback.I have been a season ticket holder in the past. If they build an open air stadium I will not purchase a ticket. I am sure others will watch from home as I will. How stupid. The future Super Bowl to be played outdoors will probably be a weather disaster and they will only accept bids for indoor stadiums afterwards. Forget
Atlanta if they build and open air. I have been real proud of the Falcons and the direction the owners have chosen. Not anymore. Stupid move, really stupid move.
Not A Falcon Fan
February 22nd, 2011
6:17 pm
This is pure Bulls**t…….the stadium authority are nothing but a bunch of turds……build a new stadium in this economy for a billionaire owner? who’s laughing all the way to the bank. Anyone who supports this is an idiot…….
JSS
February 22nd, 2011
6:18 pm
@ PMC…
They are going to “Summerhill” Vine City! They’ve already done plans to acquire by eminent domain everything from Foundry Street to Western Avenue to Northside Drive to Walnut Street. The new Condos on Jones Avenue will be built around…
Bone
February 22nd, 2011
6:19 pm
Stupid move for open air. No Chick-fil-A Bowl, no SEC championship…because who wants to sit and watch in 30 degree weather. That’s why the Dome got the games they got.
blazerdawg
February 22nd, 2011
6:21 pm
The plan is to keep Georgia Dome as well.
Ryan highly overrated
February 22nd, 2011
6:25 pm
you have lost your mind ,a open air stadium. This is not Green Bay. we never won a super bowl. oh yea Matt Ryan has a weak arm. don’t be a clown with this open air B.S. don’t know who Blank is talking to but don’t listen to those clowns on this!!! Bank on it. Read my lips no way in hell I would stay a season ticket holder!!!!
GT Alum
February 22nd, 2011
6:26 pm
Saints release Shockley…was this an expected move?
JSS
February 22nd, 2011
6:28 pm
Yes, see Jeremy Thomas
Transplants
February 22nd, 2011
6:29 pm
ohhh the conditions…wind…rain….60 degrees….twice a football season….take me back to Alpharetta and plant my fat backside in front of the widescreen
R Pitts
February 22nd, 2011
6:29 pm
Arthur Blank and crew are disgusting pigs. $700 million for a stadium we do not need. Waste our hotel tax money on that instead of addressing crucial infrastructure needs like our backlog of $786 million plus in overdue city roadwork. And the water and sewer project. And who knows what else. Please Arthur, either stay in the Dome, pay for the new stadium yourself, or move the team somewhere else. We have more important needs than a stadium that MIGHT hold one Superbowl, MIGHT hold a few FIFA matches, and will otherwise be used for 10 to 12 NFL games a year and nothing else!
Walking with a Panther
February 22nd, 2011
6:30 pm
“You didn’t do it from 1966-1990 and for all of your BIG TALK, you’re not going to do it now! It is financial, demographic, and economic boon doogle! And nobody is scared of cold, I went to college in Michigan… But there is a difference between snow and freezing rain! There is a difference between heat stroke (as many of us remember from the toilet bowl) and being a drunk and stupid college football fan…
And if you’re NOT thinking about paying for that mess, then you need to close the page…”
JSS! You are the man!….ehh or woman! Thank you for making that point!
JSS
February 22nd, 2011
6:31 pm
Arthur Blank has played you!
Google this article…
‘Patriots teach lesson about stadium financing’
By Dave Copeland
D. Orlando Ledbetter
February 22nd, 2011
6:31 pm
Commissioner Goodell said “real football” is meant to be played outdoors.
Here’s the link to the Burlington Coat Factory, since we’ll have to get one of those things called a “coat” — http://www.burlingtoncoatfactory.com/
Kwijibo
February 22nd, 2011
6:31 pm
Just read the plan. Seriously? 65,000 seats with 10,000 “temporary seats” for events like the Super Bowl? Sounds like a stadium for an ACC team. Let’s keep what we have, put real grass in with a retractable dome and move on.
SeenThisB4
February 22nd, 2011
6:32 pm
The Saints let Shockey go cause of the salary he was scheduled to make next year, his age 31, his propensity to injury since coming to the Saints, and the emergence of Jimmy Graham at the position. He was an expendable luxury.
Bay
February 22nd, 2011
6:33 pm
Mr Blank you will lose most of your female ticketholders and a lot of us who have had tickets for over 20 yrs if you move outdoors. A lot of the older fans will not renew to sit outside in the unpredictable elements here in Atl. If we can’t justify a Superbowl when we have a dome and the weather outside is bad we will never get in the rotation with an open air stadium. Please reconsider!
Ryan highly overrated
February 22nd, 2011
6:33 pm
How many of you remember Atlanta Fulton county stadium in 1978 when thre Falcon played the eagle. My hole crew like to froze.BLANK use your head not you greed on this open air B.S. and again Matt Ryan has a weak arm!! you guy are clowns to even think like that. NUTS!!
Guybird
February 22nd, 2011
6:38 pm
Don’t they remember 40 degrees and rain in Ol’ Fulton County Stadium? What are they thinkin? Put a retractable roof on it.
HARDCORE FALCON FAN
February 22nd, 2011
6:39 pm
BUILD A OUTDOOR STADIUM AND I WILL NOT BUY ONE TICKET…AND WILL WATCH ONLY ON MY 60 INCH SCREEN..ITS TOO HUMID HERE AND TOO COLD AND ICY IN WINTER
JSS
February 22nd, 2011
6:39 pm
D. Orlando Ledbetter
February 22nd, 2011
6:31 pm
“Commissioner Goodell said “real football” is meant to be played outdoors.”
You mean the fool who had ticket holding folks standing outside watching a game on a big screen because he did not check to see if the host had gotten proper permits from the Arlington Fire Marshal? Yeah right!
Super Bowl Victory First
February 22nd, 2011
6:40 pm
Then we will consider a new stadium.
.7 billion dollars for a stadium for an NFL team for 10 home games a year?
Over a 20 year period that equals 200 home games, or more than 3 million per game.
There are many ways to better spend taxpayer funds in the metro area.
Not a wuss
February 22nd, 2011
6:40 pm
Jacksonville – outdoor
Charlotte – outdoor
Nashville – outdoor
Atlanta (pre-1993) – outdoor
Athens – outdoor
Most every high school game – outdoor
I think we can survive.
Matt
February 22nd, 2011
6:40 pm
I don’t mind the open air stadium but they need to get it out of downtown. If they want to put it in downtown it has to have a marta station at the stadium. If not, move it where the fans are.
I personally feel that they are trying to shoehorn the stadium into that spot and I don’t like it.
MF
February 22nd, 2011
6:41 pm
All….it’s called wearing a coat to the game. And we already had an open air stadium once and no one complained…
Go Falcons!
JSS
February 22nd, 2011
6:42 pm
@ SeenThis…
Thanks for setting me straight on Graham…
HARDCORE FALCON FAN
February 22nd, 2011
6:43 pm
GEORGIA DOME ONLY 19 YRS OLD ITS A GREAT PLACE..AND WAS ROCKIN FOR THE PLAYOFFS AGAINST GREEN BAY…DIRTY NEW ORLEANS CAVE IS 40 YRS OLD AND THE GET A SUPER BOWL ATLANTA IS A BETTER CITY AND HAS A BETTER DOME…KEEP THE DOME OR I WILL STOP BEING A SEASON TICKET HOLDER
blazerdawg
February 22nd, 2011
6:43 pm
The plan that DOB attached has a page that shows where all of the season ticket holders live.
Downtown is right in the middle and is the best location travelwise.
Fond Memories
February 22nd, 2011
6:43 pm
of all those drizzle rain soaked Peach Bowls at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
And we make sure the patrons get more exercise as the proposal states all will have to walk twice as far from Marta and the parking areas.
How could this miss?
Love ATL
February 22nd, 2011
6:45 pm
Other than California, Atlanta has about the best overall weather in the country.
Move Out!
February 22nd, 2011
6:46 pm
The falcons need to move to the suburbs, maybe south of atlanta in clayton county, where they can get cheap land for a huge stadium and parking. The county will pay whatever they want to locate there, since they are having financial problems. Move it on out—-Clayton’s the place to be!
Doris Rockefeller
February 22nd, 2011
6:47 pm
I went to Fulton County Stadium before the Georgia Dome was builted,and we did not enjoy that exposure.If you build an open air stadium here without open /close features, I will not attend any Falcon games. I think you need to reconsider, I’m sure I’m not only one that feel that way.
Sissies
February 22nd, 2011
6:48 pm
All you people whining about sitting out in the elements are sissies. Football is an outdoor game. Man up and stop whining. You sound like women. September and October are incredible months outside for football.
You aren’t real football fans anyways if you don’t renew your tix so the Falcons won’t miss you. The real fans will line up to watch games outside.
Snatchandgrab
February 22nd, 2011
6:49 pm
I would also not renew my season tickets…well, maybe and sell most. It’s too hot in the fall and I remember going to games in the old Atlanta-Fulton county stadium that were waaaaaay too hot and too cold. If I have to be in the elements, I prefer to stay at home and watch the game. The NFL doesn’t want Atlanta to have another Superbowl. They keep awarding them to New Orleans and the Superdome is the worst stadium in the league. Atlanta should have never gotten rid of the party zone in Buckhead.
JSS
February 22nd, 2011
6:49 pm
“And we already had an open air stadium once and no one complained…”
Huh? Folks used to go CRAZY about the conditions at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium!!! Season ticket folders we leave at halftime of 4PM games in December because the toilets would freeze! And all of that tailgating talk… Ha ha!!! That wind would whip up off of 75-85 and tear you a new down in the Orange lot. How many of you the Redskins-Falcons game back in 1989? Man, it was so cold that Redskins players came over and drank our hot chocolate
hop
February 22nd, 2011
6:49 pm
Since MR. Blank is big on during syrvey’s to geT the pulse of atlanta falcons fans , I do not remember the falcons
doing one.
I feel very strongly that if they had reviewed this option with the ticket holders they would NOT be moving
on this horrible idea!
This state and country is in the worse financial shape since president peanut was president.
The last thing we should be doing is caving into the falcons and build yet another football field ; when the one they have is just
fine.
I am so tired of governments going along with fat cat sports owners and spend tax payer money for such nonsense.
the falcons have plenty of monery to build their own. it is high time for the people have a say and to mr. blank, the answer is not NO,BUT HELL NO!
Ryan highly overrated
February 22nd, 2011
6:50 pm
FOR THE PEOPLE WHO PAY THE CASH OPEN AIR HAS LOST. PUT IT TO A VOTE! I WANT US TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL! BUT NOT WITH THAT WEAK ARM OF MATT RYAN. CAN YOU SEE HIM THROWING IN A 20MPH WIND . OPEN AIR? Ledbetter POLL IT AND SEE!!!
tim
February 22nd, 2011
6:58 pm
An open stadium is ok for the Falcons but what about all the other games/events that go on inside the dome. Why do they want a open stadium and not even one with a retractable roof??
Indy was put on the map cuz they have a domed stadium.
HUGE mistake if Atlanta doesn’t have a dome.
NoLion
February 22nd, 2011
6:59 pm
700 Million $ for to let rain in, heat in, cold in, and no f…money for Hope …. AM I THE ONLY ONE MAD ABOUT HOW OUR NEW GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATORS ARE SELLING GA CITIZENS OUT….
NoLion
February 22nd, 2011
7:02 pm
THANK YOU SIR, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER……THIS STUFF HAS GOT TO STOP……
Righteous
February 22nd, 2011
7:02 pm
I just became a season ticket holder this year. I love the dome. My wife is not going to sit outside in the cold. Im not sure of how many games I want to freeze to watch in the cold or sit in the 90 degree heat in August and September. A retractable roof would be ideal. If the are going to build a new stadium make it a retractable roof then you can have the best of both worlds.
JSS
February 22nd, 2011
7:04 pm
$700 million dollars is the budget to get dig the harbor at Savannah deeper! And we are begging the Federal government to do that! Anybody see a problem here?
Sissies
February 22nd, 2011
7:04 pm
Bunch of crybabies here. I know about 50 people who will take your season tickets when you don’t renew them. Thanks for letting the real fans enjoy real football outside.
Prediction
February 22nd, 2011
7:08 pm
All these whiners here probably don’t go to Falcon games anyway. Great move by the Falcons. Fewer number of seats will create more demand for tickets- something the Braves never figured out. Football was meant to be played outside and definitely in the South. All you naysayers will eat your words when you can’t find tickets. New stadium will be sold out for years to come and for the first time a Falcons ticket will be a coveted item. I was at Cowboys/Falcons playoff game at Fulco stadium when temp was in teens and can’t wait to go outdoors again!
HARDCORE FALCON FAN
February 22nd, 2011
7:08 pm
put a open air stadium here and watch Atlanta fall farther behind progresive cities like Charlotte,Dallas,Seattle, a dome is very much needed here and thier is nothing wrong with the GEORGIA DOME…CRAPPY NEW ORLEANS HAS A 40 YEAR OPLD UGLY CAVE CALLED THE SUPERLESS DOME AND THEY GET A SUPER BOWL ITS THE WORST VENUE IN THE COUNTRY..MR BLANK DONT DO IT !!!KEEP THE GEORGIA DOME!!
JimmyD
February 22nd, 2011
7:10 pm
The Georgia Dome will still be used by Georgia State football and if the NFL has to postpone games because of weather other NFL teams can play there including the falcons if they don’t have a retractible roof on the new stadium
JSS
February 22nd, 2011
7:12 pm
Sit your “50 people” in the sun or the freezing rain, while Arthur Blank is in his luxury box laughing at your dumb _ _ _!