The Falcons had been making progress toward striking a deal for a venue that would replace the 20-year-old Georgia Dome with a building that would be partially funded by public money.
That could be changing.
Greg Bluestein and Leon Stafford of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explain that public resistance to the use of taxpayer funds will make it harder to get a deal done.
“It’s hard to get lawmakers to vote for something that’s polling 70-to-30 no,” Governor Nathan Deal said. “They need to directly communicate with the public. Either way the public attitude has to be significantly changed from where it is now.”
The team could be planning to do that. Falcons President Rich McKay said the Journal-Constitution via email that “we do plan to take a more direct and aggressive stance with Georgia residents and their legislators in the coming weeks.”
For the Falcons, the “or else” won’t be the time-honored threat to move. Instead, the team’s Plan B would be building an open-air facility of its own, which then would compete with the Georgia Dome directly for other events.