Good morning. This is LEADOFF, an early look at Atlanta sports.
For the first time since the Braves defeated the Detroit Tigers on Oct. 2, ballgames will be played at what used to be called Turner Field today.
Football games, that is.
The $26 million transformation of The Ted from a baseball diamond to a football gridiron, from Turner Field to Georgia State Stadium, will be on display with two high school football games in the annual Corky Kell Classic today and five more Saturday.
The natural-grass baseball field has been turned into an artificial-turf football field. The dugouts have been removed. A new grandstand has been installed in what used to be right field. The Chop House and the 755 Club have been renamed the State House Grill and the University Club, respectively.
SEE: How Turner Field was converted into Georgia State Stadium
Roswell and South Forsyth will play at 5:30 p.m. today in the first football game in the stadium, followed by Buford vs. Hillgrove at 8:30 p.m. Five games will follow on Saturday: Kell vs. Tucker at 9 a.m. Archer vs. Brookwood at 11:45 a.m., Colquitt County vs. Norcross at 2:45 p.m., Mill Creek vs. McEachern at 5:45 p.m. and North Gwinnett vs. Walton at 8:45 p.m.
The 2017 MetroPCS Corky Kell Classic moved its Atlanta games from the Georgia Dome, which is being prepared for implosion, to Georgia State Stadium.
SEE: A recent look inside the Georgia Dome, already a shell of its former self
Georgia State opens its football season at its new home Aug. 31 vs. Tennessee State. The Panthers held a “FanFest” Thursday night, the first event in the stadium since the Braves departed for Cobb County. The event included a Panthers practice.
SEE: What is expected in crowds and traffic for Corky Kell Classic
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