Jeff Genthner probably put it best when he called it in the elephant in the room. Genthner, the Fox Sports South/SportSouth general manager and chairman of the Atlanta Sports Council, conducted a friendly question-and-answer session on Wednesday with Falcons president Rich McKay as part of a breakfast the sports council hosted.
Genthner was speaking, of course, about the Falcons' desire for a new open-air stadium to replace the Georgia Dome. McKay mentioned that the team can pursue a replacement facility when the bonds that underwrote the dome are paid off in 2020 now that the Georgia General Assembly re-authorized the tax that funds the dome and that will fund a new building. However, that timetable could be accelerated if the bonds are paid off faster, possibly as soon as 2016 or '17, and McKay told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in May that ground-breaking could start in 2012.
"The process is starting to pick up a little speed ... as we move along with the" Georgia World Congress Center, he said of the authority that runs the dome.
On Wednesday, McKay compared the process to when he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and they were seeking to build a new stadium -- negotiations he characterized as contentious with the Bucs not wanting to contribute much financially to the project.
"I would say we'll solve the issue much more under the radar than we did in Tampa," McKay said.
The Falcons have made their preference known for an open-air stadium, which is considerably cheaper than a facility with a retractable roof but which would appear to be at odds with groups like the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, which benefits from helping to bring events like the NCAA men's basketball Final Four about once every five years to the city.
"It's way too early in the process to tell you where we are," McKay said on Wednesday.
But one thing that is clear is that the Falcons' desire for a new stadium -- with new (and larger share of) revenue streams that would need to be negotiated with the World Congress Center -- has a fair amount of stridency to it.
McKay said on Wednesday that the disparity in local revenues among NFL teams is growing and that eventually that spread "is going to have an effect on winning." The obvious implication to that statement is that the Falcons don't get the new stadium they want with the share of revenues that they want that they will have a more difficult time fielding winning teams against teams free-spending teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins.
In his big interview with the AJC in May and again on Wednesday, McKay has said that Falcons owner Arthur Blank will make a contribution, which, of course, will be negotiated, to the new stadium.
"This will be something where we try to create a public-private partnership and that partnership requires a substantial investment," McKay said back in May. "We understand that. We've seen it in other deals throughout the NFL and we intend to do that."
On Wednesday, McKay was only slightly more precise on that topic.
He said a new stadium will "absolutely include a large contribution from Arthur and the Falcons."
Straying from the elephant in the room, McKay also discussed some other team- and league-related issues. (McKay also serves on the league's competition committee.) He talked about the difficulty of making transplants into Falcons fans because of the ease with which fans can watch all of the games of their favorite team in the city they left.
"Twenty years ago," he said, "I guarantee you that in three years you'd be a Falcons fan."
He also mentioned the challenge presented by HD TV and Web sites that provide instant statistical updates, which enhance fans' home viewing experience and makes fans less inclined to attend games. He said the Falcons are working on smart phone applications to enhance the in-stadium experience, such as one in which fans could watch the NFL Network's Red Zone channel. Showing more replays at the dome also is a much discussed topic, he said.
In reference to the league's unpopular overtime procedure, McKay said he thinks the league will find a better solution "in a year or two."
As for the elephant in the room, McKay and the Falcons will have some interesting negotiations ahead of them in years ahead.
