Mercedes-Benz Stadium falls three months behind schedule
By John Buhler
Mercedes-Benz Stadium is reportedly three months behind schedule, which will certainly impact MLS expansion team Atlanta United FC’s inaugural 2017 season.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the original March 2017 completion date for new Mercedes-Benz Stadium has unfortunately been pushed back three months due to issues with the steel structure to support the video halo board, among other things.
While the new June 2017 completion date won’t negatively impact the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, as the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be ready in time for their preseason game of the 2017 NFL season, it is a major blow for the inaugural season of the MLS expansion team Atlanta United FC set to begin play March 2017.
Atlanta United FC will have to play about half of their first season before hitting the pitch on new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The original plan was to have United FC open up the stadium for their inaugural season in March 2017, so the expansion team will have to figure out where they will play the first three months of the 2017 MLS season.
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Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC owner Arthur Blank remains adamant about his MLS team playing 17 of their 34 regular season games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. While the soccer club will certainly be able to host MLS matches at home come June of 2017, being able to play all 17 games at home in the second half of the regular season is beyond unrealistic.
In all honesty, this three-month construction extension isn’t then end of the world, but it does take some of the momentum out of United FC’s inaugural season. While several thousand people already have their season tickets purchased, how are the supporters going to receive compensation should Blank and United FC be unable to provide its fan base with 17 regular season home games in 2017?
Teams are sometimes temporarily transplanted while their new stadium is under construction. We saw the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings play outdoors in frigid Minneapolis the last two years at TCF Bank Stadium, home of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers of the Big Ten. Even the Atlanta Hawks had to play at the Georgia Dome for a couple of seasons while Philips Arena was under construction at the site of the old Omni.
Perhaps either the University of Georgia or the Georgia Institute of Technology would help Atlanta United FC out by allowing either Sanford Stadium or Bobby Dodd Stadium host a few United games so that the MLS expansion team doesn’t have to play its first 17 games of the 2017 MLS season on the road.
I’m sure MLS commissioner and Arthur Blank will figure something out with regards to what the soccer team will do about their temporary displacement in Spring of 2017. Atlanta United FC had to relocate its headquarters from Memorial Drive in DeKalb to Franklin Road in Marietta late in 2015, so the MLS team will be fine.
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While it stinks that Atlanta United FC won’t have the luxury of playing its first ever game on a brand new pitch in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, isn’t it better to make sure things like the retractable roof and the video halo board will end up working before the team plays its first match?