Atlanta Falcons Fans May Shoulder Much of the Cost for New Stadium

Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that local Atlanta Falcons fans may be hit with a stiff increase in ticket prices if/when the proposed new stadium is completed in 2017. The new home for Atlanta's NFL team would have a retractable roof, a near $1 billion price tag, and would result in the demolition of their current stadium, the Georgia Dome.

Despite not winning a playoff game in the last three years, local Falcons fans have hardly had a reason to complain when it came to seeing their team in person.  Last season the average Atlanta Falcons ticket cost $68.91 compared to the NFL average of $77.34.

Tucker points out that cities that have recently built new NFL stadiums have experienced an average ticket price increase of 26 percent.  This would translate to an average ticket to an Atlanta Falcons game costing about $87, which would effectively price out a large portion of the single game ticket buyers.

Season ticket holders could also see per game ticket prices of well over $200. As if that weren't bad enough, you will also need to take into account the souvenir and concessions price increases which would almost certainly accompany any increased ticket prices.

Tucker also mentions that team owner Arthur Blank has made reassuring statements that he wants fans from all economic backgrounds to attend games in person, but he's supposed to say that.  Let's just hope that Blank and the rest of the group working to get the new downtown stadium learn from the bad PR that Turner Field experienced when it opened in 1997 (via The Chicago Tribune). 

With ever increasing ways to enjoy a game from home and a still struggling economy, now would not be the time to pass on an even greater cost to the fans.