Questions also loom about whether games could be played in the stadium before the roof is completed and fully operable, if necessary.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s first scheduled event is an Atlanta United soccer match July 30, followed by two more soccer matches in August and two Chick-fil-A Kickoff college football games in early September: Alabama vs. Florida State on Sept. 2 and Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee on Sept. 4. Dates for Falcons home games are expected to be announced by the NFL the week after next, along with the rest of the league’s 2017 schedule.

Gary Stokan, who runs the Chick-fil-A Kickoff event as president and CEO of Peach Bowl Inc., said this week that his organization has “full assurances from the Falcons” that the Alabama-FSU and Tech-Tennessee games can be played in the new stadium.

Stokan said there hasn’t been any discussion about whether the games would be played with the roof open or closed.