ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank will watch his team host an NFC championship game for the first time Sunday, and if he gets his way, he’ll soon be sitting in the owner’s box of a $1 billion retractable-roof stadium in downtown Atlanta.
But Blank isn’t getting a lot of help from state politicians. Gov. Nathan Deal supports using $300 million in revenue from an existing hotel tax to partner with Blank on a new complex to replace the 21-year-old Georgia Dome, but says the owner must do the heavy lifting.
Jockeying between major sports franchises and governments over the financing of new stadiums is nothing new, but the chilly reception the Atlanta proposal has gotten from the public and many state lawmakers is surprising some in this business-friendly state.
