Atlanta United will not play any home games at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium during most of the month of April to avoid conflicts with the Yellow Jackets spring practices and scrimmages for football.
Atlanta United announced on Wednesday that it will play home games in its inaugural 2017 season at Georgia Tech until its home of Mercedes-Benz Stadium opens. The $1.5 billion stadium is scheduled to open in June 2017.
Atlanta United will begin playing at Bobby Dodd in early March and will host a to-be-determined number of games there until Tech’s spring football starts. That start date hasn’t been announced by Tech. The MLS schedule is expected to be revealed in January. During spring football, Atlanta United will then play a series of road games, resuming play at Bobby Dodd on or around April 29.
Tech typically holds a weekly scrimmage at Bobby Dodd Stadium. In past years, the only scrimmage that has been open to the public is the spring-ending one held in late April. The field at Tech’s indoor practice facility isn’t 100 yards long.
Most MLS teams played 13 or 14 games this season between the beginning of the season in March and the end of May . That included four or five games in April.
Atlanta United President Darren Eales said on Wednesday that the team will request from MLS a balanced schedule, which would mean seven home games and seven road games should there be 14 on tap by the end of May 2017.
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