Georgia Dome - Atlanta, GA

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Atlanta's Georgia Dome was the home of the Peach Bowl from 1993 through 2016, as well as the 2015 and 2016 editions of the Celebration Bowl. It also played host to the Georgia State Panthers from 2010 to 2016, as well as the NFL's Atlanta Falcons. It replaced their usage of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, and was replaced with Mercedes-Benz Stadium in 2017.

Overall, NC State had a record of 1-1 at this field,

Date Opponent Time Ranking Result Attendance Length Comments
1/1/1995 vs Mississippi State (AP: 16, Coaches': 17) * 8 PM AP: 23, Coaches': 20 W, 28 - 24 64,902 60 min. Peach Bowl
8/31/2012 vs Tennessee * 7:30 PM L, 21 - 35 55,529 60 min. Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game

  * Non-conference games

For nearly three decades, Atlanta's primary football venue had been the utilitarian, multi-use Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. It had been built originally to attract a baseball team -- the Atlanta Braves -- but also hosted the Falcons, opening the teams' first season of play. Rumors had been circulating since at least 1985 that the city was posturing for a new stadium for their pro football team; retrospectives on the life of the venue confirmed as much, citing the Colts' overnight departure in from Baltimore's decrepit Memorial Stadium as a major incentive. Investment efforts began in October 1987, and construction began in late November 1989 after being delayed due to a sluggish financials. Apparently, there were even "real talks" of Georgia Tech leaving Grant Field for new climes, though those plans never materialized [1].

Just under 3 years after construction started, the venue finally opened in September 1992 with a massive capacity: most outlets reported the round number of either 70,500 or 71,500, though more exact articles claimed it could hold precisely 71,594 persons -- 20,000 more than the venue it replaced. The count included premium seating options like box seats, and also featured a new Astroturf playing surface. After opening for an exhibition game against the Eagles on August 23rd (the home-town team won 20-10 despite superstitious coach Jerry Glanville refusing to let his team step foot in the dome until gameday), the venue's first official game was September 12th, when the Falcons hosted the Saints

Capacity was temporarily pushed to 72,000 persons while hosting the 1994 Super Bowl while changes to the press boxes and sound systems were made, but was announced as 71,228 beginning in 1995; this was announced prior to a partial roof collapse in August 1995 which damaged 5,000 seats, all of which were repaired ahead of the season-opening exhibition game against the nascent Carolina Panthers. After the Super Bowl, the venue hosted a number of events associated with the 1996 Olympics [2].

In 2006, Falcons owner Arthur Blank began bandying for a new home venue, saying that a new stadium was "in the front of my mind." After all, essentially the only change to the venue since opening was the replacement of Astroturf with FieldTurf in 2003. Shortly thereafter, stadium ownership began renovating the dome, starting work on a $25 million (just under $40 million in 2025) project which included two new LED schoreboards, and replacing 40 of the original suites with eight new "super suites." While it was reported that the renovations bumped seating in the stadium up by 32 seats (which would put capacity at 71,320), most publications gave the new seating as 71,250 persons. If the seating was lowered, it could be related to a 2008 change where the old teal chairs were swapped out with red, black, and silver ones to match the Falcons' colors.

In 2010, the Falcons' posturing continued, with president Rich McKay indicating the team would prefer to play in either an open-air stadium, or a venue with a retractable roof, rather than their domed domicile. Ownership began engaging in talks to build the Birds a new outdoor venue while keeping the Dome for other indoor activities, but by 2012, it was decided the dome -- which hadn't yet hit legal drinking age -- would be scuttled. Work on the replacement Mercedes-Benz Stadium began in 2014 and completed in 2017. That November, the old Dome was imploded, marking a short but impactful time as Atlanta's premiere football venue. The following year, the Home Depot Backyard -- a community park -- opened in its location [3].

Approximate location of the Georgia Dome on an interactive map of Atlanta.



Pictures of Georgia Dome






First, two images showing the construction of the Georgia Dome, late 1991/early 1992. Next is an image showing the innaugural Falcons home game in the new venue, against the Jets. The final two images are of the interior of the Dome during the 1996 Olympics, with the first image focusing on the venue's basketball portion of the floor, and the second showing the curtain which separated the two show floors [4]



Two images showing the Dome in use after the 2007-08 renovations from the 2011 Eagles game, the 2008 Clemson-Georgia neutral site game, and the dome's implosion in 2017, with Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the foreground [5]



Last updated: 12/11/2025