Important Facts About the Georgia Dome and Going to a Falcons Game
Stadium Name and Year Built:. The name of the stadium is the Georgia Dome. The Falcons moved literally inside from Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1992 as soon as it was built.
Location and Parking: The Georgia Dome is at the corner of Georgia Dome Drive and Northside Drive as you can see on the Georgia Dome’s official website. It is just west of the heart of downtown, just west of the junction of Interstates 20, 75, and 85.
There are only about 6,000 public parking spaces for the public and you generally need to be a season ticket holder to get one of those spots. You can pay to park (around $20) near the stadium in parking garages and other public parking spaces. After paying more for parking than I wanted to, I use MARTA, the public rail system, to avoid the headaches of driving and parking in downtown Atlanta on gameday. MARTA begins and ends right on the perimeter (I-285). Whether I was coming from the east from South Carolina or from the west when I was in law school in Birmingham, I would get out of my car at the first MARTA stop for $5 and let them take me in on the Blue Line to the Dome. Atlanta also has a bus system in the downtown area as well for locals.
Seating Capacity: There are 71,250 seats for a football game. Falcon games are not the only football played at the Georgia Dome. Two Super Bowls have been played here. The SEC Championship has been played at the Georgia Dome since its third year in 1994. The Peach Bowl aka the Chick-fil-a Bowl is played here every New Year’s Eve. I will be back at the Dome next Saturday for the Clemson-Auburn game, one of many neutral site college games played here.
Food- There are burgers (meat, turkey and veggie), hot dogs, nachos, chips, potatoes, Mexican, wings, pretzels and pizza to name many. There is also a station that serves Peach Cobbler since you are in the Peachtree state.
Drink, including alchohol-. You can get bottled soda, bottled water, domestic beer and mixed drinks at the Dome. Since this is the South, they also sell sweet tea.
Other things- TSA style pat-downs are not the norm at the Dome which is good. You may bring a still camera, but no video camera. Children shorter than 33 inches can get in for free. You cannot smoke at all in the Georgia Dome. You cannot sell your extra tickets within 2700 feet of the Dome. The Dome is ADA compliant in assisting the disabled fans. You cannot bring any food and drink into the stadium unless you are a diabetic or have some other special need. If so, contact the Dome 72 hours before kickoff. Don’t drink too much, don’t fight. Use good manners and judgment.
The author’s second favorite team is the Carolina Panthers and he has gone to the Georgia Dome to pull for them against their biggest rival, the Falcons. The author enjoys the Georgia Dome atmosphere with the exception that it is football inside.
