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Atlanta United announces adjustment to opening of Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Reuters

Atlanta United FC will have to wait before moving into its new home.

On Tuesday, the team announced Mercedes-Benz Stadium will open in late August rather than July, impacting the dates of three Major League Soccer matches.

Atlanta United was scheduled to debut at its new stadium in a game versus Orlando City SC on July 30, but, under the revised schedule, the match will take place one day earlier at Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium. Games against Minnesota United and the LA Galaxy - set up for Aug. 13 and Aug. 19, respectively - are being rescheduled for later dates.

Atlanta United's first match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be on Sept. 9, when the club welcomes FC Dallas.

"No concerns about the operability of the roof have ever been expressed to us by the design or construction teams," Steve Cannon, chief executive officer of ABM Group, LLC, said. "It is a complex, original design that is going to be spectacular and operate as designed. That's the bottom line.

"The reason for a revised timeline is quite simple: Normal surveying and analysis of the roof structure, as well as steelwork in the roof, have both taken longer than planned. Those two things have had a cascading effect on overall workflows related to the roof and that is the reason for the new timeline.

"We've worked very hard over the last few weeks to find any possible avenue to meet the July 30 timeline, but have not been able to do so. Our construction partners have now worked through re-sequencing the remaining work and are very confident we'll be ready for live events beginning with the Falcons game on August 26."

The revised schedule means the Atlanta Falcons will debut at Mercedes-Benz Stadium before Atlanta United, hosting preseason games against the Arizona Cardinals and Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 26 and Aug. 31, respectively. The two franchises will share the venue, which will seat 71,000 people and is reportedly valued at $1.6 billion.

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