Sports
First College Football Game At Mercedes-Benz Stadium Sells Out
The first college football game to be played at Atlanta's new sports venue, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, has sold out.
ATLANTA, GA -- Almost two months before they take the field, the University of Alabama and Florida State University have set a record: The football teams have sold out the inaugural college gridiron matchup at Atlanta's new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Chick-fil-A Kickoff game will usher in the 2017 college football season with the Bama-FSU contest at 8 p.m. ET, Saturday, Sept. 2. The teams have combined to win five of the last eight college football national championships. (To get notified of more local news like this, click here to sign up for the Atlanta Patch. Or find your Atlanta-area town here. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)
If Alabama opens season play at No. 1, as they're projected, and Florida State rises to No. 2 or even stays at No. 3, where they're forecast, this will be the biggest season opener since the preseason rankings began.
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“We’re calling this game the GOAT, the Greatest Opener of All Time, because of the projected rankings, the dominance of these two programs and the fact that this is the toughest ticket I have seen in my 20 years in college football,” Gary Stokan, CEO and president of Peach Bowl, Inc., was quoted as saying. “To possibly have No. 1 against No. 2 in the first game of the season is a credit to the programs that Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher have built and their willingness to play this game shows their desire to compete at the highest level.”
Both teams are well acclimated to Atlanta, with FSU playing here in Peach Bowls against Georgia Tech; and Bama has practically lived here as perennial players in the SEC Championship game. But that was the Georgia Dome and light years away from where we are now: Mercedes-Benz Stadium is quite literally offers a whole new ballgame.
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“We knew this was going to be a special game, but I’m not sure we fully expected it to reach historic levels like this,” Percy Vaughn, Peach Bowl, Inc. chairman, was quoted as saying.
Two weeks later, the Atlanta Falcons will open play at Mercedes-Benz against the Green Bay Packers.
Image via Craig Johnson / Patch
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