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Falcons confident $200M in changes won't delay stadium opening date

Mercedes-Benz Stadium/Twitter

Construction for Mercedes-Benz Stadium appears to be on schedule despite over $200 million in changes ordered by the Atlanta Falcons.

Team president Rich McKay confirmed previous reports of the changes Thursday, explaining that the additional costs are a result of design complexity and the amount of steel involved, according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.

McKay also indicated that, despite the changes, the state-of-the-art facility is still expected to open in June 2017.

"We're pretty confident in our timetable,'' McKay said. "June 1 is a good date for us. We're working pretty confidently toward that date, and we feel very good about it. I would say that we have really picked up the pace. You've seen the steel going up. You've seen the numbers of lifts that we have. We're in a pretty good place.''

The Falcons, who first moved into the Georgia Dome in 1992, will move into Mercedez-Benz Stadium for the beginning of the 2017 season.

Among the several major sporting events that will also be held at the new venue is Super Bowl LIII, which Atlanta was awarded in an NFL announcement made last month.

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