In 2002, the Atlanta Falcons made a deal with Home Depot — at least with the co-founder of the billion-dollar home and gardening giant. That was the year Arthur Blank came on board to spearhead the new era of Falcons football.
Arthur Blank’s Early Years and Business Dealings
Blank, then 59 years of age, purchased the Falcons from the Smith family. The Falcons were first founded by Atlanta businessman Rankin M. Smith, who later handed over the team to his son Taylor Smith. Blank, who is now 80, bought the Falcons for $545 million.
Along with his stake with Home Depot (which he co-founded in 1978), Blank is active in the ownership realm with one other Atlanta sports franchise: the Atlanta United soccer franchise, which was founded in April 2014. Four years later, Blank celebrated the Major League Soccer team’s first MLS title.
He also helped branch out to indoor football by buying the Arena Football League team, the Georgia Force. After his purchase, he moved the AFL franchise from suburban Gwinnett County to the city of Atlanta.
Additionally, Blank was responsible for the creation of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which featured a state-of-the-art retractable roof and scoreboard. The stadium broke ground on May 19, 2014, and officially opened on Aug. 26, 2017.
Since then, the venue has hosted Super Bowl 53 and the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship. The NCAA Final Four was also supposed to be played inside the venue, but that was canceled in 2020 due to the threat of COVID-19.
The Falcons Under Blank
The Falcons have witnessed some highs and lows in franchise lore, with Blank overseeing the team.
The first NFL quarterback he got to work with? 2001 No. 1 overall pick Michael Vick. Vick rose to fame as a 2002 Pro Bowler in Blank’s first year as owner and took the team to the playoffs twice, making an appearance in the 2004 season NFC title game vs. the eventual conference champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Blank and the Falcons, however, eventually severed ties with the QB for his involvement in a dog fighting ring that placed him behind bars in Leavenworth, Kansas, and forced him to miss the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
That was also during a time Blank made the infamous hire of Bobby Petrino — who ended up secretly leaving the team during the 2007 season to take the head coaching job at Arkansas. Petrino went 3-10 in his truncated time with Atlanta.
Then, Blank and Atlanta turned to Matt Ryan in 2008 to lead the franchise at QB. “Matty Ice” went on to become a four-time Pro Bowler and took the Falcons to the Super Bowl in the 2016 season … which became the infamous blown 28-3 lead against the New England Patriots in Houston that ended with a 34-28 overtime defeat.
Under Blank’s ownership, the Falcons have witnessed the following: eight playoff runs, four NFC South titles, one NFC crown, 10 sub-.500 seasons (including the last five campaigns), and nine different head coaches, including current head coach Arthur Smith.
