By: Rachel Pillow
Photos By: Walt Wooden
Renderings Provided By: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Scheduled to open for the 2017 season, the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the Atlanta Falcons NFL and Atlanta United FC Major League Soccer teams, is touted to be the most high tech stadium in professional sports history. Suwanee Magazine was afforded a tour of the progress of the “The City’s Stadium” by Stadium General Manager, Scott Jenkins…
The 2 million square foot stadium is 400,000 square feet larger than the current home of the Atlanta Falcons, the Georgia Dome, with the 
capacity to seat up to 75,000 people compared to 71,000+ at the Georgia Dome, but builders are committed to lessening their environmental footprint and creating a sustainable, future-friendly building. Jenkins is a pioneer in the green building movement in sports and Chair of the Green Sports Alliance Board of Directors: a group dedicated to developing solutions to environmental challenges and promoting healthy, sustainable communities where we live and play. Right now the stadium is on target to become the first professional stadium to reach LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum Status. Features such as a 680,000-gallon cistern and 1.1 million gallon storm vault help the Mercedes-Benz Stadium to use 42% less water than the Georgia Dome; while 4,000+ solar panels help them to utilize 34% less energy than a typical building.
THE GAME DAY EXPERIENCE
Game days will be completely different from what Atlanta Falcons fans have grown accustomed to in the past. Fan-friendly food and beverage pricing, huge concourse space and doors opening much earlier than normal are meant to create a destination before and during the game. The Georgia Dome, directly adjacent to the new stadium, will be reconstructed into a green, tailgate parking lot. Once inside the stadium, fans will experience over 670 concessions points of sale (65% more than is currently available at the Georgia Dome) along with more restrooms and much larger concourse space. “Fan First Menu Pricing” is meant to give families affordable options to enjoy their entire day at the game with low prices such as $2 for unlimited, self-serve, re-fillable non-alcoholic beverages; $2 hot dogs, pretzels and popcorn; $3 peanuts, pizza, nachos and waffle fries; and $5 12oz domestic beers. The menu and pricing model will be in effect for all Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United games, as well as other major events at the stadium including the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, SEC Championship Game, 2018 College Football National Championship and 2020 NCAA Men’s Final Four.
MOST HIGH TECH STADIUM IN HISTORY
“The stadium is completely scalable and customizable depending on what event it is hosting. Everything is digital. You can customize the entire look and feel of the stadium with the push of a button,” said Jenkins. For Atlanta United Soccer – there is a curtain system that drops so the whole third level goes away, making it a more intimate setting and the field level seats also retract at the corner so that they can fit a full size soccer-width field. Fans never have to worry about missing an important play just because they get up from their seats. The 58-foot high, 360-degree, HD halo board wrapping the stadium is the largest video board in professional sports history at 1,100 feet long. A 100- foot high “mega column” video board, 3,200 linear feet of ribbon board and 52 million individual LED lights all contribute to creating a spectacular show for any sporting event, concert or show held at the stadium. One of the most prominent features is the retractable roof that can open or close in just seven minutes. “We are viewing this as an outdoor stadium that has the ability to close,” said Jenkins.
THE PSL MODEL
New to Atlanta Falcons fans is the PSL or Personal Seat License model of the stadium. Already implemented by 23 of the 32 NFL stadiums, PSLs are a way for fans to personally own the rights to their seats through the term of the stadium lease. The PSL is considered a one-time fee that goes towards funding the construction of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium and provides the licensee with the following benefits:
■ Right to own your seats
■ Access to exclusive opportunities to purchase tickets
to other events prior to the general public
■ Right to transfer your PSL to a member of your
immediate family or third party
■ Right to sell your PSL to a third party
In the past, Atlanta Falcons fans have been accustomed to purchasing season tickets, good only for the duration of one season. And while PSL owners will still purchase ticket packages each season, they will also now own the rights to and benefits of their specific seats for a minimum of thirty years and an annual ticket price that is locked for three years. PSL pricing starts at $500 per seat and can by paid in full by February 28th, 2017 or in installments over 10 years at $53 per year, plus the annual ticket payment of $700 (equating to only $55 per game). In fact, 20% of the stadium has seat licenses available for $750 or less per seat.
Atlanta Falcons fans may be familiar with the model because college football has been utilizing it in some form for quite a while. The PSL idea was born out of the college donation program where you must make a donation to the university in order to earn your right to buy season tickets for the year: the higher the donation the better your seat options. PSLs at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium run the gamut of $500 to $5,500 per seat, with multiple options in between. For instance, a $2,500 PSL may be paid in full by February 28th, 2017, or will cost the seat owner an annual installment of $267, plus an annual ticket payment of $1,150 to be paid over 10 years.
“With this price structure we wanted to make sure we’re inclusive of everyone,” said Michael Drake, Senior Vice President & Chief Revenue Officer of AMB Sports and Entertainment. And, rest assured, there are no “bad seats” in this state-of-the-art mega stadium. “Each concourse has a unique personality: every seat, every single section of the stadium is designed to be a unique destination, from the on-field club level bar to the beer garden on the first level concourse to the 100-yard bar on the 300 level,” said Drake.
THE WESTSIDE WORKS PROGRAM
“This is the city’s stadium,” said Jenkins. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a game-changer for the city in many ways, including in the formation of new community partnerships, such as the Westside Works Program: a long-term neighborhood program focused on creating employment opportunities and job training for residents of the Westside community and neighborhoods surrounding the new stadium. The program provides critical job training, development and placement for residents within the community. “As important as building the stadium is to Arthur Blank (Owner of The Atlanta Falcons), so is supporting the surrounding neighborhoods. We’ve put to work roughly 200 people from the surrounding community and close to 100 people through the culinary program,” explained Jenkins. Other community partnership efforts can be seen in their recruitment of local artists. “We partnered with SCAD to create artwork, sculptures and photography that will be displayed throughout the stadium; and The Boys & Girls Clubs in Atlanta have painted the pieces for a mosaic that is going up in the concourse,” said Jenkins.
*For more information on the Westside Works Program, go to westsideworks.org
Scott Jenkins: Mercedes-Benz Stadium General Manager
Scott Jenkins has a rich history in professional sports stadium management, including: VP of Ballpark Operations for the Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Eagles and Milwaukee Brewers. The fact that the General Manager of the stadium was hired in the very early stages of the construction process, long before opening day, is proof that the focus has been on the ongoing, overall experience for the fans, not just on the aesthetics and functionality of the stadium.
