Sunday, August 20, 2017

Closed On Sundays?

A few weeks ago I trumpeted the Atlanta Falcons efforts to provide a modestly priced menu at their new Mercedes Benz Stadium. Good for them. Now we have this. There will be a Chick-Fil-A at the billion dollar stadium. Excellent. Everyone loves Chick-Fil-A. With headquarters in Atlanta it's a natural fit for Chick-Fil-A and the Falcons to unite. There's just one little problem. The popular fast food franchise is closed on Sundays. There's nothing natural about this union.

Chick-Fil-A has been closed on Sundays since 1946 on orders from founder Truett Cathy. The NFL, and it's predecessor the APFA, has been open for business on Sundays since 1920 on orders from every team except the Frankford Yellow Jackets.

"Having worked seven days in restaurants open 24 hours, Truett saw the importance of closing on Sundays so that he and his employees could set aside one day to rest and worship if they choose-a practice we uphold today," the company website reads.

That's an excellent sentiment and policy. But why would a company closed on Sundays ever hook up with a company that's so tightly linked to Sundays? "Feelin kinda Sunday." Sure, the ever-expanding NFL has every day of the week in it's sites. Until that happens teams still play the vast majority of their games on Sunday. This year the Falcons play all but one of their home games on Sunday. On Thursday Night, December 7, the Falcons and their new partner Chick-Fil-A will be open for business. One night only. On the days of the other seven Falcons games fans will pass by a darkened Chick-Fil-A franchise. Lights on everywhere but there.

Mercedes Benz Stadium is the home of the Atlanta Falcons. There's no denying that. But there will be many events that take place there. Other sporting events, concerts, etc. so there will be plenty of opportunities for Chick-Fil-A to take advantage of their new, little-used location. As long as those events don't take place on Sundays.

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