HOUSTON — Falcons owner Arthur Blank has come a long way from Stuyvesant High School.
He already was wealthy beyond most of our imaginations from his business interests, which include co-founding Home Depot. Now, the 74-year-old Blank is at his first Super Bowl as an NFL owner.
Blank has shown his appreciation by bringing all of his Falcons employees, from all departments in the building, to Houston this week for the game.
Times are good for Blank, whose Falcons are moving into a shiny new stadium next season, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which cost $1.5 billion.
Blank said Friday the Falcons’ sales of personal seat licenses for the new stadium have “spiked” since the team clinched a berth in the Super Bowl.
“It hasn’t spiked up like 100 percent or anything close to that, but it has definitely spiked up,” said Blank, who bought the Falcons in 2002. “We don’t have really a lot of seats left to sell. We do have some, so it’s helped.”
According a recent report, the Falcons had sold 41,102 personal seat licenses as of mid-January, up from 33,000 at the start of the season. Before the Falcons beat the Packers in the NFC Championship, the team reportedly had about 20,000 PSLs left to sell.
“I think the timing is great,” Blank said. “I would say Mercedes-Benz Stadium — in terms of design and construction and selling of PSLs — has been going along great. We were on pace, above pace, and I think when you have this kind of season it supports that.
“I think a lot of fans, when they make that decision about PSLs, [which] are long-term commitments, in their mind what they’re asking is: Is this a one-year wonder or is this an organization … that is going to be a sustainably winning organization?
“And that has been my longest-term goal: Not just to get to a championship game and win it. Certainly that is our goal. But beyond that to have a team that [is among the] four-five teams you discuss at the very top every year. If you’re in that conversation, you’re at the party, you have a chance.”
For this week, Blank is giving his employees — some 500 strong — the chance of a lifetime by bringing them to the Super Bowl.
“Football is the ultimate team sport and it goes way beyond the people you see on the field,’’ Falcons president Rich McKay said of Blank’s uncommon gesture. “It takes a lot of people to operate a successful NFL team and the staff works very, very hard all year round. Arthur loves the associates and one of our core values is ‘Include Everyone.’
“He wants those who have helped our team reach the Super Bowl to have the chance to see the game live in Houston.’’
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