The Falcons’ sales of personal seat licenses for the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium have “spiked” since the team clinched a berth in the Super Bowl, owner Arthur Blank said Friday.
“It hasn’t spiked up like 100 percent or anything close to that, but it has definitely spiked up,” Blank said. “We don’t have really a lot of seats left to sell. We do have some, so it’s helped.”
According to the most recent available figures, the Falcons had sold 41,102 seat licenses as of mid-January, up from 33,000 at the start of the season. As of mid-January, the team appeared to have about 20,000 PSLs left to sell. (Some seats, such as those in suites or sponsor deals, are excluded from the PSL inventory.)
From a business standpoint, it would be hard to imagine a better springboard into a new stadium than a Super Bowl berth, which in the Falcons’ case is just the second in the franchise’s 51-year history.
“I think the timing is great,” Blank said Friday. “I would say Mercedes-Benz Stadium — in terms of design and construction and selling of PSLs — has been going along great. We were on pace, above pace, and I think when you have this kind of season it supports that.”
While sales benefit from emotion and enthusiasm surrounding the Super Bowl — “the city is on fire,” Blank said — he thinks seat-license purchases are a reflection not only of the current season, but also of confidence about the future.
“I think a lot of fans when they make that decision about PSLs and long-term commitments, in their mind what they’re asking is: Is this a one-year wonder or is this an organization … that is going to be a sustainably winning organization?” Blank said.
“And that has been my longest-term goal: Not just to get to a championship game and win it — certainly that is our goal — but beyond that to have a team that (is among the) four-five teams you discuss at the very top every year. If you’re in that conversation, you’re at the party, you have a chance.”
PSLs are one-time fees for the right to buy season tickets annually over the next 30 years.
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