The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Black: We'll win fans back
Some PSL defaults ‘predictable,’ but owner says success will help.
MIAMI — Falcons owner Arthur Blank acknowledged the franchise has had problems with fans defaulting on their personal seat licenses but said he’s optimistic the team can improve on the field to help the situation.
Records show Falcons fans have defaulted on payments for thousands of personal seat licenses since Mercedes-Benz Stadium opened in 2017, essentially undoing about $30 million in sales, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
“Some of the defaults are kind of predictable,” Blank told The AJC on Wednesday. “A lot of it is driven by life changes and circumstances. People move away. They get divorced. They get married. They have children. (There are) a variety of things that change people’s circumstances and the ability to continue to afford those.”
Blank believes things will improve.
“Overall, our success has been really good with PSLs,” Blank said. “We have defaults. We had them last year. We’ll have them again this year, and we need to continue to find ways to make sure that they are sold through and we have the kind of fan experience in the stadium — that’s important.”
The Falcons have strung together consecutive 7-9 seasons and fans started to stay away from games. But Blank elected to retain coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff.
“Part of that, obviously, is that we are going to have to produce a different set of results on the field,” Blank said. “That’s definitely been a factor. So, I’m optimistic that we can do that this coming year based on a variety of things. All the things that characterized the turnaround of the second half of the season are things that I believe can carry forward to next year.”
The Falcons, who are bracing for some veteran players to be cut and for some players to leave via free agency, will attempt to improve mostly through the draft.
“I think we are in a good position in the draft,” Blank said. “We’ll have three picks in the first two rounds, and we’ll be appropriately active in free agency. But I think primarily it is going to be improvements through the draft. We’ll see how that shapes up.”
Blank is fine with the fan experience at the stadium, but not with the team’s performance. “The product on the field has to be a competitive product,” he said. “We think we can achieve an even higher degree of success this coming year.”
Dimitroff’s return was not connected with Quinn’s return. “They work together, so they are connected that way,” Blank said. “You always want a head coach
and general manager to work together. But they are not connected in any way, shape or form beyond that.
“We’ll continue to look at each one of them this year. Hopefully the performance will be a continuation of the second half of last year and not what we saw in the first half of the season.”
The Falcons went 6-2 after starting the season 1-7.
“That’s the key, maintaining the second half of the year, being typical of what we want to see,” Blank said. “If we were 6-2 for every half of the year, we’d be thrilled. We’d be 12-4. That would be an incredible record if we did it over a long period of time.”
The Falcons have started the process of retooling the roster — “They are having draft meetings as we speak,” Blank said — but don’t appear to be headed for an overhaul. “That tells you that their roster is basically really good,” Blank said. “Not perfect. It needs to be worked on in certain areas. But the coaches really know what to do. They have connected with the players. The players understand the schemes and are performing now. I’m optimistic looking at our team for this coming year and the ability to become competitive.”
In the past, Blank has tabbed certain players — Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and Grady Jarrett — as “Falcons for life.” He didn’t use that term when asked about tight end Austin Hooper, who’s set to become a free agent.
“All of the players that are free agents that we have, we’ve been in touch with all of their agents,” Blank said. “We said that post-Super Bowl we’ll lock down on this and end up making serious decisions about a number of these players. We’ll see where we end up on that.”
Blank rooting for Shanahan, Chiefs: Blank said he plans to root for former Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and his
San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.
The Falcons lost Super Bowl LI, 34-28 in overtime after holding a 28-3 lead late in the third quarter, and Shanahan’s play-calling and clock management played a role in the historic collapse.
Blank also is fond of the Hunt family, which owns the Chiefs. “I’m rooting for a great game and Kansas City as well,” Blank said. “Lamar Hunt, when I first came into the league, was a great friend to me. … His wife has been to every game from the start. Coach (Andy) Reid is an outstanding coach with a great personal story as well. A very special human being as well. For America and both sets of fans, I want to see a real competitive game with some scoring unlike last year.”
Here’s what Blank had to say about three other areas of interest:
Collective bargaining agreement: “Talks have been really productive. I can’t tell you that it will get done this week, but I can tell you that real progress is being made. There are reasons on both sides to try to get this thing finished and have it become a win-win for both the players as well the NFL and the owners.”
On the Super Bowl returning to Atlanta: “We definitely want to be in the mix again. We have a thing called the World Cup that will complicate it a little bit. That will be 2026, and we are on the bid list for those games, but that’s a factor.”
On the Falcons’ 2020 game in London: “Every team that has gone to London has had a great experience. I think the first year or two, there were some logistical things that had to be worked through, and they’ve gotten better. It will exciting for us to compete in London. I’m not sure who we’ll play. There is speculation that it’s the Broncos, but I don’t know that. We’ll see.”