Copyright 2017 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Falcons CEO and president Rich McKay showed a video and discussed hosting the SEC Championship game at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium during the SEC's media event Tuesday in Hoover, Ala.
He confirmed the new stadium will ready Aug. 26 when the Falcons are set to host the Arizona Cardinals in their exhibition season home opener.
That game will be followed by another exhibition game and two Chick-fil-A Kickoff college football games in early September: Alabama vs. Florida State on Sept. 2 and Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee on Sept. 4. The SEC Championship game is slated for Saturday, Dec. 2.
McKay said the Falcons didn't want to just improve on the Georgia Dome. If they wanted to do that, they would have elected to renovate.
"We really wanted to change the game and do it for a long, long time," McKay said. "That's kind of what was behind the building itself."
He discussed the stadium's design, digital signage, bargain food pricing, halo scoreboard and SEC graphic logo.
The Georgia Dome, which is scheduled for demolition, hosted the SEC Championship game for 21 years, beginning in 1994.
AMB Sports & Entertainment (AMBSE) along with the SEC and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) have an agreement to host the SEC football championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium through 2026. The agreement allows the SEC the option of adding up to two successive five-year extensions.
-- D. ORLANDO LEDBETTER
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