ESPN’s NFC South blog has an interesting article on the franchise values for the NFC South teams. Surprisingly (at least to me) the Falcons are not chalk full of value.
The one I found surprising was the Atlanta Falcons. Despite adding Matt Ryan and a lot of excitement, the Falcons came in at No. 30 and were valued at $856 million, a two-percent decrease from last year. I guess that’s why the Falcons are making noise about wanting a new stadium.
I have read some of the articles about ATL wanting a new stadium, but the time is just not right. I don’t think the Dome is awful; don’t get me wrong it is not all that great, but the Falcons are having a hard time selling luxury boxes and I doubt a new stadium would have fans forking over cash left and right for the opportunity to sit in a shiny new location.
Isn’t the Georgia Dome like less than 20 years old?
The 49ers are playing in a stadium which is about 40 years old and they’re having problems putting together a new stadium.
Atlanta is getting all these people moving from the NE. They aren’t adopting the local teams?
wco81 – I am not sure, but I think that the Dome was opened in 1998 or 1999, so it should be right in the 20-year-old spot.
The Falcons just kicked in a lot of money last year for a major renovation. It is funny how something 20 years old is considered old. Disposable stadiums, but I guess that is what makes the fans excited.
As far as ATL goes, when I lived there about 9 years ago, during my 7 years there it was rare to actually meet folks from the area. At Falcons games it is not rare for there to be plenty of NY Giants/Jets, Bears, Cowboy, etc fans. Much more than I would expect to find at games in other cities. At last year’s Bears game, it was all we could do in my section to make sure that we were louder than the Bears contigent.
I think the folks moving to ATL stick to their original home teams. Kind of like why Team U.S.A. in soccer always feels like underdogs at some of their home venues.