ATLANTA - After years of construction, months of delays and a price tag of $1.5 billion, Mercedes Benz Stadium finally opened for business Saturday night. The Atlanta Falcons hosted the Arizona Cardinals in a preseason game that will be mostly remembered for the new surroundings.
Few NFL exhibitions games have been more breathlessly anticipated than this one.
And as the gates opened for the first time to paying customers, it became apparent – from the craned necks and the multitude of photos snapped -- that the star of this game was made of steel and concrete and a flashy ring of electronics.
PHOTOS: Atlanta Falcons' first game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium
"Oh my gosh. Very overwhelming. Beautiful," gushed Sherri Carter, a season ticket holder, moments after she entered the gate. "I can’t wait to get in my seat and see what the view looks like there, but this is a gorgeous, overwhelming, sick stadium."
Asked how much different it is from the Georgia Dome, Carol Conforti ruefully answered: "The money."
The view from Conforti’s seat on the five yard line started with the purchase of four $6500 personal seat licenses. That gave him and other fans in his section the privilege of paying more money for season tickets. Conforti's four season tickets cost $5400.
"I couldn’t afford the seats that I wanted," Conforti said. "The best seats are in the $15,000 to $45,000 (sections closer to the 50 yard line). I was in the $15,000 (area equivalent in the Georgia Dome) before-- Before we did this," he said, gesturing to the new stadium.
"Yes we did have to buy a personal seat license. That part was interesting And kind of a bit weird at first," said season ticket holder Jennifer Lester. "But I think we got it down to a science. And I think it’s going to be valuable."
The game was played with the retractable roof closed. Falcons officials had said they needed more time to perfect the mechanics to open and close the roof.
The Falcons lost to the Cardinals in the team's third preseason game, 24-14.
