Atlanta stadium will be named after Mercedes-Benz

The Friendship Baptist Church is demolished Tuesday, July 29, 2014 in Atlanta, Ga. The church was demolished to make room for the Atlanta Falcons NFL football team's new stadium. (Kevin Liles/AP)

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons will share a stadium name with their biggest rival.

Mercedes-Benz, which already has its name on the New Orleans Superdome, was announced as the title sponsor of Atlanta’s $1.4 billion stadium on Monday.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank says the company signed a 27-year agreement for the name Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2017.

Two new stadiums are under construction in metro Atlanta. The baseball Braves are leaving Turner Field in 2017 for a new stadium in suburban Cobb County, SunTrust Park. The future of the Turner Field site has not been determined, though Georgia State has proposed to convert it into a downsized stadium for its football program.

Mercedes-Benz also is a title sponsor for sports arenas in Germany and China.

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