Any time you get within 500 miles of Atlanta, you have to stop in at a Chick-fil-A. It’s pretty much the law. But you can’t visit any Chick-fil-A on a Sunday, because the chain stays shut that day, following the directive of its founder. Chick-fil-A is willing to sacrifice a day’s worth of profit for principles, which you have to respect … at least until you’re craving a chicken biscuit on Sunday morning.

Chick-fil-A is an Atlanta institution. As such, Chick-fil-A will be in the Falcons’ new home, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, when it opens later this month. However—you see where we’re going with this—because the Falcons, like all NFL teams, play most of their games on Sundays, Chick-fil-A won’t actually be open during most of the Falcons’ home games. Weird, right?

Sort of. It’s a long-term play by the Falcons’ ownership group, which also owns Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The stadium doesn’t just host Falcons games; it’s also the home of the Atlanta United soccer team. Arthur Blank, the Falcons’ owner, has said he hopes the stadium area can host 100 to 200 events a year … which seems ambitious, but hey, this is a gorgeous facility (Yahoo Sports took a backstage tour this week), and most of those won’t fall on Sundays.

The Falcons, for the record, play both of their home preseason games on days other than Sunday, and the Chick-fil-A (hey!) Kickoff Games, which pit Alabama against Florida State and Tennessee against Georgia Tech, are on a Saturday and a Monday, respectively.

Stay tuned to Yahoo Sports for a full breakdown of the $1.5 billion stadium. And for the record, there are at least two other locations in the stadium that serve chicken sandwiches … and we can report that both are delicious.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium is almost ready for business. (AP Photo/David Goldman) More

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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