More widely known as the home of the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Fulton County Stadium also served as the home of the Atlanta Falcons for more than two decades. Plans for a major stadium in Atlanta were first discussed as early as the 1930s, with a more formal proposal emerging in 1956. A domed stadium was initially considered, but that concept was eventually dropped.
During this period, both AFL and MLB franchises explored Atlanta as a potential relocation city, but the slow progress on stadium development caused teams to look elsewhere. That changed on March 5, 1964, when the Milwaukee Braves (MLB) announced plans to move to Atlanta, provided a stadium was ready by 1966. This announcement triggered immediate action, and construction on a new stadium began on April 15, 1964.
Shortly after, on June 30, 1965, the NFL awarded Atlanta an expansion franchise, paving the way for the Falcons. Built in just 51 weeks, the stadium was completed in time for the 1965 season, although the Falcons would not begin play there until 1966. Atlanta became one of the earliest cities to adopt a “cookie-cutter” multipurpose stadium design, built to accommodate both baseball and football. The Braves moved into the facility for the start of the 1966 MLB season, sharing it with the Falcons.
The first football game held at the stadium took place on August 14, 1965, when the Minnesota Vikings faced the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Falcons made their home debut on August 27, 1966, against the San Francisco 49ers. Later renamed Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, the venue eventually seated up to 60,000 fans for football. Its design featured three tiers of blue wooden seating encircling the field, with portions of outfield seating temporarily removed to convert the layout between baseball and football configurations.
The stadium saw relatively few major changes in its early decades. In 1977, however, it received a significant update: all original wooden seats were replaced with plastic seating in blue, orange, and red, and a new scoreboard/video board was installed beneath the stadium roof. Beyond that renovation, the structure remained largely unchanged until its closure.
By the mid-1980s, the Falcons began pushing for a football-only venue, no longer wanting to share with the Braves. By 1988, discussions for a new stadium intensified, and in 1989, approval was granted by state and local authorities to build a new domed facility. The Falcons played their final game at the stadium on December 15, 1991, before moving to the Georgia Dome the following year.
The Braves continued to use the stadium through the end of the 1996 season. On August 2, 1997, Atlanta Fulton County Stadium was demolished by implosion. For two decades the site was a parking lot. In 2026, Georgia State announced plans to build a new college baseball stadium on the site.
