Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
“Beam me up, Scotty.”
That phrase isn’t just for Star Trek anymore, and that reaction may be just the slightest bit extreme when taking a look at the latest plans for the Atlanta Falcons’ new stadium.
Or is it? Although the term ‘futuristic’ has become more or less the promoted buzzword for the stadium project, it’s more just the sophisticated term for ‘far out.’
One of the more intriguing possibilities is the seating. First there is ‘impact seating,’ in which the seats the fans are sitting in would move and/or vibrate accordingly in coordination with the hits on the field. The question is, when would the seats not be moving? Halftime? Commercial breaks? Also, just how strongly will the rumble in the seats be?
So many questions, so little time.
The other side of the seating coin—the practical side—offers up power outlets for the electronic devices all fans have on hand these days. Whether it’s a smartphone or a tablet, fans are good to go…and so are their means of communication. And what good are all the fully-charged means of electronic communication without the Wi-Fi to carry them? Expect considerable Wi-Fi availability from all corners of the stadium.
While these aspects would positively contribute to the goal of getting the fans off their couches at home and into stadium seats, other ideas being batted about seem to be devised to do the exact opposite. Another concept under consideration is the ‘man cave,’ which is supposed to provide a watching-at-home-from-the-comfortable-couch feel. That of course begs the question, why not save the money and watch it at home to begin with? Most fans go to the game for the live experience, obviously…and prefer not to spend a considerable amount of money for said live experience just to feel like they’re watching it from their couch in their home.
From futuristic to far out to opening in 2017, the stadium truth lies somewhere in between.
Leigh Allen is an NFL Atlanta Falcons writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow her on Twitter, on Facebook, and on Google+.
