Photos: New Falcons stadium taking shape in Downtown Atlanta

ATLANTA - The new home of the Atlanta Falcons has begun to take shape downtown.

FOX 5 got a tour of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium construction site Thursday and a progress report from the people building it.

The stadium is scheduled to open next year. Its permanent tenants are the Falcons and the new Atlanta United professional soccer team. But Falcons President Rich McKay said the new stadium will be used for a wide variety of purposes, not all of them sports-related.

Mckay said plans are still in the works for the inaugural event at the stadium. He said there are a number of intriguing possibilities.