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Football National Championship. “The building is non-stop,” said Jenkins. Perhaps one of the most exciting events Mercedes-Benz stadium will host is Super Bowl LIII in February. Though Jenkins didn’t give many details about the event, he said meetings with the host committee, NFL and broadcasters has stepped up in recent months. “The stadium experience is going to be awesome,” Jenkins assured. Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s centralized location in downtown Atlanta and easy access to MARTA will help make the events surrounding the big game even more exciting, he said. “We can concentrate everything geographically to create a really cool experience right here for people coming to Atlanta.” Things won’t slow down after the Super Bowl either. Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s second year will likely be just as busy, or more so than the first. Jenkins said he expects the continued sell-out crowds at Falcon’s games and even more demand for Atlanta United tickets. “We are already selling out the standing room only tickets for Atlanta United,” he said. Jenkins said planning will also ramp up for the NCAA Final Four, which Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be hosting in March 2020. The simplest reason for the stadium’s successful non-stop schedule is because it is, as Forbes magazine said, “...the best venue in the NFL.” Forbes contributing writer Keith Flamer said, “Multipurpose Mercedes-Benz Stadium is revolutionary in its design, engineering, functionality, sustainability, technology, and fan- friendliness.” “Every new building has big aspirations, but as challenges with schedule and budget come up, things start to slip and you don’t always deliver what you expected,” Jenkins said. “With Mercedes- Benz Stadium, we kept doing the right things and making the right decisions. To have high expectations is one thing. To deliver on those expectation is another and I think we did that.” And though Jenkins agrees that Mercedes- Benz Stadium is “second to none,” he adds that at the heart of the operation, it’s the people who work at the stadium that make all the difference. “We hear visitors say over and over, ‘This place is incredible but what really blows me away are the people.’” he said. It takes 4,000 employees to run the stadium during an Atlanta Falcons game, which draws around 70,000 fans. With that many moving parts, Jenkins said, “you’ve got to keep things simple.” He said the stadium does so by sticking to AMB owner Arthur Blank’s core values, which are the same across all of the Blank’s businesses: treat visitors like they are welcome guests in your home, listen and respond to their needs, hire the best people and put programs in place to support them. One of the ways AMB attracts the best employees is through its focused efforts on giving back to the local community. “Yes, we are in the sports entertainment business, but we’re really focused on giving back to the community. It’s ingrained in who we are,” Jenkins said. the EXECUTIVE 3