Kanye West paid $1m a day to live inside $1.6bn CFP semifinal venue which boasts bargain hot dogs
Fernando Mendoza and the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers continue their College Football playoff bid at the Peach Bowl.
Friday’s clash with fifth-ranked Oregon is being held at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium — best known as the home of the Atlanta Falcons, as well as hosting Super Bowl LIII.
Opened in 2017 as a replacement for the Georgia Dome, it cost $1.6 billion and also hosts MLS and NWSL teams.
The roof boasts a groundbreaking design based on a camera shutter with eight triangular panels that take between eight and 12 minutes to fully close.
Beneath that is the iconic Halo Video Board — a 58-by-1,100-foot, 360-degree HD screen.
A giant stainless steel falcon sculpture — the biggest in the world with its 68-foot wingspan — greets fans and continues the stadium’s larger-than-life feel, which doesn’t extend to concessions with budget-friendly $2 hot dogs and $5 craft beers.
Its reputation is helped by an incredibly famous former lodger in the controversial rap icon Kanye West.
While recording Donda in 2021, he paid $1 million per day to live in the bowels of the arena.
Isolated in a small room giving off jail cell vibes, he put the finishing touches on his latest album — a tribute to his mother.
During the process, he held two listening parties at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and another at Chicago’s Soldier Field, where millions tuned into livestreams to watch him fine-tune tracks, light himself on fire, and perform in a spiky suit.
After almost two hours, during which you never saw Kanye’s face, you were able to listen to the album.
Back to football, and the 71,000-seater stadium is ready to host playoff football despite the Falcons narrowly missing out, having finished in a three-way tie for first in the NFC South.
Indiana will be an overwhelming favorite with Heisman trophy winner Mendoza under center.
The Hoosiers demolished Alabama 38-3 in the first round of the postseason.
Mendoza is being tipped to go first overall to the Las Vegas Raiders, but first he has business to take care of against a team he beat 30-20 in October.
“Oregon are a fantastic Big 10 opponent. We went over there and it’s really hard to beat a team twice,” he said.
“Those guys are legit, it’s going to be a great matchup, can’t wait to play some great football against them, all respect to them.”
The Ducks beat Texas Tech 23-0 to set up this showdown and will be no pushovers.
Atlanta Falcons in offseason shakeup
Mercedes-Benz Stadium hosted Super Bowl LIII, where Bill Belichick‘s New England Patriots stifled the Los Angeles Rams in a 13-3 triumph.
It is up again in 2028 and if the Falcons want to join the Rams, who later triumphed over the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium, in winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy on home soil, change is desperately needed.
There was much promise for the 2025 season that ended with head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot both getting fired.
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Both positions will be filled in a star-studded head coaching cycle, as well as a brand-new role created by owner Arthur Blank.
It’s expected that former quarterback and Falcons legend Matt Ryan will be hired as President of Football.
He will reportedly quit his job at CBS Sports in order to fully concentrate on the position, with the new coach and GM both reporting to him.
Blank will still have final say but Ryan will effectively be in control of the franchise where he made his name as a player in a potential Hall of Fame career.
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