The Georgia Dome is a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia that is owned and
operated by the State of Georgia. The Dome is home to the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and
the annual host to the Southeastern Conference Football Championship Game, The
Chick-fil-a Bowl (formerly known as The Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl and The Peach Bowl)
post-season college football games, and since 2004 the FIRST World Championships.
It was also home to the NBA's Atlanta Hawks during the construction of Philips Arena
from 1997 to 1999, as well as hosting basketball, team handball and gymnastics during
the 1996 Summer Olympics. Since 1994. The Dome has Hosted two Super Bowls and
has also been host to both the Men's and Women's NCAA Final Four Basketball
National Championships and several SEC and ACC Basketball Championships.
It also hosted Super Bowl XXVIII in 1994 and Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, as well as the
prestigious NCAA Final Four Men's Basketball National Championship in 2002 and
2007 along with regional semi-finals and finals in 2001 and 2006 and NCAA Women's
Final Four in 2003. The Dome has been host to many WCW Monday Nitro and WWE
RAW live events, including the now-infamous "Fingerpoke of Doom" in 1999 as well as
the memorable championship bout between Bill Goldberg and Hulk Hogan. Since 2004,
the Georgia Dome has annually hosted the FIRST Robotics Championship Event. Also,
Drum Corps International held its first event at the Georgia Dome in July 2006 when the
Dome hosted DCI Atlanta - The Southeastern Championship. As a result of damage
done to the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana by Hurricane Katrina, the
Sugar Bowl game was played at the Georgia Dome on January 2, 2006 which was the
first time "the South's Biggest Bowl Game" was ever played outside the state of
Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl finished a string of three football games in four days that
started with the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl between LSU and Miami (Florida) and an NFL
game between the Falcons and the Carolina Panthers two days later. While playing at
the Georgia Dome the Atlanta Hawks broke the NBA single-game attendance record
with 62,046 fans. The Georgia Dome also hosts the Georgia High School Association
football state playoff semifinals .
The Georgia Dome was completed in 1992 at a cost of $214 million (US) which came
from the Georgia General Assembly making it one of the largest state funded
construction projects in state history. It seats 71,228 for football, and can hold
approximately: 75,000 for concerts, 53,000 for basketball when the dome is fully open
and 40,000 for basketball and gymnastics when the dome is sectioned off(one half
closed off by a large curtain). The structure is located on 9.19 acres (37,200 m²) of
land; the dome has a height of 270.67 feet (82.5 meters), a structure length of 744.75
feet (227 meters), a structure width of 606.96 feet (185 meters), and a total floor area
of 102,149.51 ft² (9,490 m²). The dome is the largest cable-supported dome in the
world. Its roof is made of teflon-coated fiberglass fabric (which is strong and lightweight)
and has an area of 374,584.08 ft² (34,800 m²). From its completion until the December
31, 1999 opening of the 20-acre Millennium Dome in London, it was the largest domed
structure of any type in the world, but still remains the largest indoor sporting facility in
the United States.
The Georgia Dome originally had AstroTurf artificial surface for its football events. In
2003 Arthur Blank, the new owner of the Atlanta Falcons, personally paid for the new
state-of-the-art FieldTurf artificial surface system, which was installed just weeks before
the opening of the 2003 pre-season.
