[Timelapse] Watch the Atlanta Falcons New Stadium Be Built From the Ground Up

The Atlanta Falcons will play their home opener against the Green Bay Packers this Sunday, 9/17.  As exciting as that is on a normal year, this year will be that much more special as it will also mark the opening of their brand new $1.4 billion stadium, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. 

The highlight of the new stadium is the pinwheel retractable roof, which opens in 8 minutes and looks like the opening scene of a James Bond movie.  There were some scares that it would not be ready for the first game of the season, but Falcons’ officials have stated that the roof could open, weather permitting.  An open roof would mark the first time the Falcons have played in an open air stadium at home since 1991, the last year they played in the Fulton County Stadium before moving to the Georgia Dome.  The new stadium will not only host the Falcons, but will also host the Atlanta United of the MLS, the 2018 College Football National Championship, the 2019 Super Bowl and the 2020 NCAA Men’s Final Four.

Other than the retractable roof, some of the key features of the Mercedes-Benz are:

  • A flexible capacity, which can hold up to 75,000 people for a football game or World Cup soccer match and up to 83,000 for a NCAA basketball game.
  • A floor to ceiling window on the northeast corner with a view to downtown Atlanta
  • A 360 degree HD video halo board which wraps around the top of the entire stadium.  It will be 58 feet tall and span a total of 1100 linear feet in diameter, making it the largest video board in the world.

The construction was carried out by a joint venture called HHRM JV, which is made up of team members from Hunt Construction Group, Holder Construction, H.J. Russell & Co., and C.D. Moody Construction Co.

EarthCam was on site to document the progress for 39 months, from June 2014 to September of this year. 

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