MLS expansion club Atlanta United FC will "play its home games" in its inaugural '17 season at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium "until its home of Mercedes-Benz Stadium is scheduled to open in June," according to Doug Roberson of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. The original plan was for the club to play "all road games for the first three months of the season." Atlanta United President Darren Eales said the move "gives us a chance to be as competitive as we can be from the start." Eales and AMB Group CEO Steve Cannon said that there were "more factors that led to the decision, including the number of season-ticket sales, the difficulty in opening the season with as many as 12 road games, and making as comfortable as possible the players who are relocating to a new team and city." The contract between Atlanta United and GT will "end in late July, which Eales said is a contingency." The goal is to "play games in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in June." Roberson notes Bobby Dodd features "natural grass with strips of artificial turf running along the edges of the sidelines." Eales said that the club will "work with Georgia Tech to replace the strips of artificial turf with natural grass." He added that Atlanta United will "request from MLS a balanced schedule with the same number of home games at Bobby Dodd that the team would have had at Mercedes-Benz Stadium if it were open." Cannon said that the club will now have "two openers: one at Bobby Dodd and one at Mercedes-Benz" (AJC.com, 10/6).
STILL ON SCHEDULE: The Falcons yesterday reiterated that the downtown stadium "will be ready for the start of next football season." Cannon: “We’re not worried about that at all. We’ve got the time that we’re going to need." In Atlanta, Tim Tucker noted Cannon was unequivocal in saying that the $1.5B stadium "will be open in ample time for the start" of the Falcons’ '17 season, "including exhibition games, and for the two Chick-fil-A Kickoff college-football games" on Labor Day weekend (AJC.com, 10/5).
