Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s new cashless policy takes effect with Atlanta United’s home opener Sunday against Cincinnati. Here are five things to know about the change if you plan to attend the 5 p.m. game (or any future event at MBS):
> 1. Cash won’t be accepted for food, beverages or merchandise. Only credit cards, debit cards and mobile payment services (such as Apple Pay) will be accepted.
> 2. The cashless policy will apply at all concession stands, bars, restaurants and merchandise stores/stands inside the stadium’s gated perimeter. It also will apply to purchases made from hawkers.
> 3. The stadium becomes one of the first two major U.S. sports venues to stop accepting cash, the other being the Tampa Bay Rays’ Tropicana Field. The move to cashless is intended to speed transactions. The policy will be in effect at all Atlanta United and Falcons games and, at least for food and beverages, all other stadium events. The only exception will be merchandise sales at third-party events, such as concerts.
> 4. For fans without credit or debit cards, cash can be loaded onto prepaid debit cards at 10 kiosks in the stadium (no transaction fee). The cards then can be used for purchases throughout the stadium. Balances left on the cards can be spent anywhere VISA is accepted. Cash-to-card kiosk locations: outside the Delta Sky360 Club and the Mercedes-Benz Club and at sections 101, 122, 203, 229, 304 and 332.
> 5. With the move to cashless, the stadium has dropped its whole-dollar pricing model, which originally was implemented to speed transactions. Prices have been reduced by 50 cents apiece on five concession items, including on hot dogs from $2 to $1.50. But the price on all items previously included the sales tax and now will be pre-tax, meaning an 8.9-percent tax will be added to each purchase. That will gobble up some of the savings from the price cuts and effectively will mean an 8.9-percent increase in the cost of all items that keep the same posted price as before.
* * *
RELATED LINKS
> Full story on Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s conversion to cashless.
> “You haven’t seen my potential yet,” Atlanta United’s Pity Martinez says.
> Here are the real numbers on Falcons and Atlanta United attendance for last year.
Support real journalism. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today. See offers.
Your subscription to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution funds in-depth reporting and investigations that keep you informed. Thank you for supporting real journalism.