The Atlanta Falcons are "pretty confident" the new $1.5 billion stadium will open by June 1, 2017, but they have a contingency plan just in case.

Falcons president and CEO Rich McKay said there would be alternate sites available if construction delays 75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the 2017 preseason.


"We're pretty confident in our timetable," McKay said Thursday. "June 1 is a good date for us. We're working pretty confidently towards that date, and we feel very good about it. I would say that we've really picked up the pace on steel. You see the steel going up. We're in a pretty good place.

"We would have options. You've obviously got the University of Georgia. You've got Georgia Tech. But I wouldn't say that we view this as ... it's not even a consideration of something we've looked into. We're very confident in June 1, so we don't view it as a problem. But we have alternatives."

McKay's assessment came during a media tour of the new stadium, which is under construction next to the Georgia Dome, the Falcons' current home.

The Georgia Dome won't be an option for the 2017 preseason because the last event there will take place in March, with the first phase of demolition scheduled next summer.

The completion date was originally set for March 1, 2017, but was pushed back three months earlier this year because of issues with the steel structures that will support the retractable roof and the video boards.