Georgia Dome, home of SEC Championship, set to be demolished

[RDU VOL#14]

Thanks! :hi: BTW, who would like to see this championship game moved? Like as in moved to a different site each season? I think that would be cool.

It might be hard to find a neutral site for each year but I'm sure it could be done. There's neutral sites they could use from each SEC state I'm pretty sure.

Oh well, it's done thru 2027 so no need to talk about it again for a good while.

I challenge you to give me 1 in Mississippi, Arkansas or South Carolina and even Alabama at this point because Legion Field is a POS now.

 

[Boca Vol]

The ACC has tried moving their game around with little success.

The only other decent neutral venues would be the Superdome & the renovated Citrus Bowl in Orlando. They've also made some improvements to RJS in Tampa.

 

[Grand Vol]

Thanks! :hi: BTW, who would like to see this championship game moved? Like as in moved to a different site each season? I think that would be cool.

It might be hard to find a neutral site for each year but I'm sure it could be done. There's neutral sites they could use from each SEC state I'm pretty sure.

Oh well, it's done thru 2027 so no need to talk about it again for a good while.

I think Atlanta is/was central enough for the SEC CG especially prior to the expansion with TAM and Mizzou. It's a good venue city with deep SEC traditions behind it.

 

[TrueOrange]

I challenge you to give me 1 in Mississippi, Arkansas or South Carolina and even Alabama at this point because Legion Field is a POS now.

Along a closer reality idea of what he was suggesting, it'd be the major cities within footprint states of SEC schools. Most likely ones with domed stadiums.

So places like Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, St. Louis, etc.


It most likely will never change from Atlanta though because of how large that city is.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

If you were trying to centralize the SEC CG geographically, you'd end up in Tupelo, Mississippi (that's the geographic center, measuing from the easternmost school to the westernmost, and from the northernmost to the southernmost).

Of course, there's no big stadium there, and certainly insufficient facilities.

Nearest real city to Tupelo? That's Memphis. Which happens to have a decent sized stadium (the Liberty Bowl seats 61,000).

That's a bit west of the centerline, just as Atlanta is east of the centerline.

So we could alternate between the Liberty Bowl and Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta's new dome), even and odd years, to move it around a little, without losing the rough geographic centrality of the CG.

Or, we could just bounce all over: Houston, Nashville, St Louis, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Mobile are all large enough to host an event of this magnitude.

But I personally like the idea of flipping it back and forth between just a couple of central spots. Balances variety with continuity.

 

[tonybologna]

I challenge you to give me 1 in Mississippi, Arkansas or South Carolina and even Alabama at this point because Legion Field is a POS now.

I think Atlanta is/was central enough for the SEC CG especially prior to the expansion with TAM and Mizzou. It's a good venue city with deep SEC traditions behind it.

If you were trying to centralize the SEC CG geographically, you'd end up in Tupelo, Mississippi (that's the geographic center, measuing from the easternmost school to the westernmost, and from the northernmost to the southernmost).

Of course, there's no big stadium there, and certainly insufficient facilities.

Nearest real city to Tupelo? That's Memphis. Which happens to have a decent sized stadium (the Liberty Bowl seats 61,000).

That's a bit west of the centerline, just as Atlanta is east of the centerline.

So we could alternate between the Liberty Bowl and Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta's new dome), even and odd years, to move it around a little, without losing the rough geographic centrality of the CG.

Or, we could just bounce all over: Houston, Nashville, St Louis, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Mobile are all large enough to host an event of this magnitude.

But I personally like the idea of flipping it back and forth between just a couple of central spots. Balances variety with continuity.

It was just an idea that popped into my head. There really is no home field advantage to any SEC School playing the game in Atlanta. Many could say it's a little home field advantage for Georgia but Athens isn't at Atlanta's back door.

I was just thinking of having a different venue to where some people don't have to travel as far plus make it more interesting.

BTW, I can think of sites in Miss & Alabama to play the SEC championship game. For Mississippi it could be played at the University of Southern Miss even though the stadium isn't really big enough.

For Alabama, like the SEC Baseball tourney, it could be played in Hoover or Montgomery but we're going to have stadium size issues for those two locations too. For Arkansas play the game in Little-Rock somewhere with a big enough stadium.

For South Carolina, play the game at Clemson's stadium or a place like Charleston. With just about all of these options though we're running into stadium problems in being too small for the game.

Why not a place like Jacksonville where UF-Georgia play their games every single year? That stadium is plenty big enough for an SEC Championship game. Alternate between Atlanta & Jacksonville sounds like an option to me because all other options have stadium size issues. Thanks!

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Tony, I don't think you can get away from a "home field advantage" entirely.

Atlanta most certainly is in UGa's back yard. And St Louis is a bit further, but still a home field advantage for Mizzou. Nashville is home field advantage for the Vols (because Vandy, hehe), and Memphis is home field advantage for Ole Miss. Gators have home field advantage in Jacksonville (for any opponent other than Georgia, which Florida would not see in an SEC CG), while A&M would get the home field advantage in Houston. And on it goes.

Bottom line is, there's always a (more or less) local favorite, no matter which stadium you pick in the SEC footprint.

That's actually a good part of the argument for moving it around a bit, make the advantages at least a bit more random.

 

[Grand Vol]

It was just an idea that popped into my head. There really is no home field advantage to any SEC School playing the game in Atlanta. Many could say it's a little home field advantage for Georgia but Athens isn't at Atlanta's back door.

I was just thinking of having a different venue to where some people don't have to travel as far plus make it more interesting.

BTW, I can think of sites in Miss & Alabama to play the SEC championship game. For Mississippi it could be played at the University of Southern Miss even though the stadium isn't really big enough.

For Alabama, like the SEC Baseball tourney, it could be played in Hoover or Montgomery but we're going to have stadium size issues for those two locations too. For Arkansas play the game in Little-Rock somewhere with a big enough stadium.

For South Carolina, play the game at Clemson's stadium or a place like Charleston. With just about all of these options though we're running into stadium problems in being too small for the game.

Why not a place like Jacksonville where UF-Georgia play their games every single year? That stadium is plenty big enough for an SEC Championship game. Alternate between Atlanta & Jacksonville sounds like an option to me because all other options have stadium size issues. Thanks!

Who cares about everyone else when Tennessee will have that game locked up for the next ten years? It's only a three hour drive from Knoxville to Atlanta.

And screw the SEC West. Who cares how far they have to drive.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Who cares about everyone else when Tennessee will have that game locked up for the next ten years? It's only a three hour drive from Knoxville to Atlanta.

And screw the SEC West. Who cares how far they have to drive.

Clearest thinking of all.

Go Vols!

 

[tonybologna]

Who cares about everyone else when Tennessee will have that game locked up for the next ten years? It's only a three hour drive from Knoxville to Atlanta.

And screw the SEC West. Who cares how far they have to drive.

Clearest thinking of all.

Go Vols!

The heck with it. Let's just ask for it to be played in Knoxville every year at Neyland then since we're going to become the dominate SEC team in the coming years anyhow!

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

Making the Playoffs would be a disappointment?

Ah, forgot about these new fangled playoffs... my bads.

 

[Godfatha]

Atlanta is just fine for the SEC CG. It's fairly centrally located. It's the airport hub. There's plenty to do. No reason to go anywhere else. Nowhere else makes a lot of sense.

 

[Neyland Law Vol]

Florida has won a conference-best 10 SEC Championship Games in the Georgia Dome, while Alabama is second with nine, including a victory over the Gators last season

Tear it down!

 

[Pepe_Silvia]

Atlanta is just fine for the SEC CG. It's fairly centrally located. It's the airport hub. There's plenty to do. No reason to go anywhere else. Nowhere else makes a lot of sense.

This x 100

I don't know why people feel the need to constantly tinker with things. The game has been in Atlanta for over 20 years. What need is there to move it?

BTW, the idea of playing the SECCG at the Liberty Bowl is laughable. Talk about low rent...

 

[RDU VOL#14]

This x 100

I don't know why people feel the need to constantly tinker with things. The game has been in Atlanta for over 20 years. What need is there to move it?

BTW, the idea of playing the SECCG at the Liberty Bowl is laughable. Talk about low rent...

The only realistic places to play the SEC title game are Atlanta, Jacksonville, New Orleans, maybe Tampa and maybe Orlando. Houston and Dallas are huge longshots IMO, but within the SEC footprint.

 

[tonybologna]

The only realistic places to play the SEC title game are Atlanta, Jacksonville, New Orleans, maybe Tampa and maybe Orlando. Houston and Dallas are huge longshots IMO, but within the SEC footprint.

That's why I said to alternate between Atlanta & Jacksonville a few posts back. Those are the best locations for the game.

 

[TennFan]

Oh my!😱😬😮👎

 

[VFL-82-JP]

That's why I said to alternate between Atlanta & Jacksonville a few posts back. Those are the best locations for the game.

Yeah, that'd never happen, Tony. The two cities closest to the southeastern corner of the map?

Every team from the West and half the teams from the East would pitch a fit if that were even suggested.

If it ever becomes anything other than Atlanta-every-year, it's gonna have to be something more geographically balanced than that.

 

[tonybologna]

Yeah, that'd never happen, Tony. The two cities closest to the southeastern corner of the map?

Every team from the West and half the teams from the East would pitch a fit if that were even suggested.

If it ever becomes anything other than Atlanta-every-year, it's gonna have to be something more geographically balanced than that.

It was just my wishful thinking speaking out!

 

[Probably_in_Class]

Nissan Stadium might as well fall in with the neutral sites as Vandy will never actually play in the SEC Championship

 

[Orangedogsrule]

Personally I thought the Georgia Dome was a bit of an eye sore. It had the unfortunate demise of being built just before the retractable roof era. The Mercedes Benz Stadium does look amazing.

The engineering of the roof is fantastic. The largest and best use of architectural genius Buckminster Fuller's concept of tensile integrity, or "tensegrity" as he named it.

weighs just ?68 pounds?, but it is strong enough to support a fully loaded pickup truck. How? The answer lies with a fundamental engineering breakthrough, one that architect-engineer Buckminster Fuller dubbed "tensegrity."

"Georgia Dome
Click photo
for larger image.
Put simply, tensegrity is a complex sequence of triangles. Short, vertical posts carry the weight of the Georgia Dome roof. The posts are held in place by pre-stretched cables, attached to the top and bottom of each post with steel pins and welded connections. The cables pull on the posts with equal force in all directions to form strong, taut triangles. The cable roof is secured to a reinforced concrete ring along the perimeter of the dome. The 2,750-foot concrete ring rests on slide-bearing Teflon pads that allow the roof to flex slightly during high winds.

It is this precise dance of pulling and pushing that allows tensegrity roofs like the Georgia Dome to soar far above the stands and the playing field below."

BUILDING BIG: Databank: Georgia Dome