A sold-out Mercedes-Benz Stadium puts close to 75,000 people into the same few downtown blocks within a couple of hours. The stadium says it plainly on its own transportation page: the roads around it congest on game days and sold-out events.

Parking is the part of that evening you can settle before you leave the house. What follows comes from the stadium’s parking, transportation and lot pages and State Farm Arena’s booking page, checked on 12 October 2026.

What Makes the District Different on Event Days

Two things change everything about where you park. The first is volume, and the second is exit timing. Everyone leaves at once, so a lot that is a five-minute walk from your gate can still cost you forty minutes in a line of cars.

That is why the stadium pushes booking ahead rather than paying on arrival. Reserved spaces are guaranteed; drive-up spaces are not, particularly at the priced events.

The Official Lots, and Why You Book Ahead

Mercedes-Benz Stadium lists eleven official lots, plus additional offsite lots in the surrounding blocks. Rates move with proximity to the stadium, how many spaces are left, and how big the event is.

Book through the stadium’s own parking site, choose your event, then choose a lot. Your pass arrives by email.
For Falcons and Atlanta United sessions, parking operators require full payment upfront, and they generally do not allow refunds or exchanges for most bookings, so confirm your date before paying.

Passes are generally non-transferable, and the stadium asks fans to be careful when buying passes from secondary resale markets.

Which Lot Fits Your Gate

You can use the detailed lot list to choose a parking lot based on your entry gate and exit direction.

• Silver Deck sits at 406 Andrew Young International Blvd NW, five hundredths of a mile out, covered, with no tailgating. It is the deck between Gates 3 and 4 and connects to the stadium by the Silver Deck Bridge. Clearance is 6 feet 8 inches, and enrolled drivers can use the Delta Fly Through lane instead of a ticket.
• Red Deck is at 285 Andrew Young International Blvd, a tenth of a mile away and covered. It is next to Gate 2 and a three-minute walk to Gates 2 and 3, with a 6 foot 8 inch clearance and no tailgating.
• 
  The Orange Deck at 103 Mangum St NW offers the closest covered parking and accommodates tall vehicles with its 8-foot-2-inch clearance. You can walk to Gates 2 and 3 in about three minutes, but you cannot tailgate there.
• The Home Depot Backyard at 1 Backyard Way is a grass lot off Northside Drive and the closest lot to Gate 1. Tailgating is allowed, there are restrooms on site, and you must enter from Northside Drive. Groups that want to park together have to arrive together.
• North Gate 1 at 82 Northside Drive NW is a gravel lot on the corner of Carter Street and Northside Drive, with tailgating allowed and an entrance off Carter Street.
• Lot 17 at 42 Mangum St SW allows tailgating, but any space used for tailgating has to be bought in addition to the space your vehicle occupies. Entry is from Mangum Street only.
• The EY Lot at 75 Mangum Street SW is a grass lot a sixth of a mile out, a six-minute walk from Gate 4, and the best of the group if you are heading home south because it feeds straight onto I-75/85 and I-20.
• The Mercedes-Benz Lot at 90 Northside Drive sits between Magnolia and Rhodes Streets and is reserved for Falcons and Atlanta United members.

The offsite lots sold through the same booking system are a different arrangement.
Independent operators own and manage parking facilities such as 50 Ivan Allen, 323 Ted Turner Drive, and the AmericasMart garages. Some lots have no on-site attendants, and a few require visitors to print a parking pass and display it on the dashboard.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium states that it does not own or operate those parking lots, nor does State Farm Arena, and visitors park at their own risk.

The Shuttle From Atlantic Station

For Falcons games the stadium runs a gameday shuttle with Atlantic Station and Fetii. You park at Atlantic Station, entering the garage from State Street and parking near stairwells 10, 15 and 16, then board on 17½ Street. The shuttle drops off and picks up at GWCC Bus Lane C.

Departures start two hours before kickoff and run until kickoff, staggered so waits are usually around ten minutes. The ride takes fifteen to twenty minutes, and the last shuttle leaves the stadium ninety minutes after the game. The Atlantic Station garage gives you the first two hours free and charges hourly after that, and Fetii adds a small boarding fee.

One limitation to plan around — the shuttle is not wheelchair accessible.

If you are already parked in one of the stadium’s Yellow or Blue lots, a separate shuttle links Yellow to Blue to Vine City MARTA station and runs in reverse after the game.

Accessible Parking, Step by Step

The stadium does provide accessible spaces, and it also warns that an accessible space is not the same as a close one, since some sit more than half a mile from the building. Pick by proximity instead. The recommended lots, in the stadium’s own order, are The Home Depot Backyard, the Silver Deck, the Red Deck and the Orange Deck.

There is an ADA pick-up and drop-off zone on Northside Drive, between the pedestrian bridge and the Home Depot Backyard entrance. The closest gate to it is Gate 1, where the Guest Services Office arranges wheelchair assistance, ADA seat relocation and sensory resources.

EV Charging in the Stadium Lots

If you need to charge while you are inside, the stadium points to six locations. They are the Red Deck, the Silver Deck, the Orange Deck, the Blue Lot, the Yellow Lot and the South Lot.

Arena Nights at State Farm Arena

Hawks games and arena concerts run a couple of blocks away, and the booking route is different. State Farm Arena sells event parking through ParkMobile, with the event calendar, lot information and an FAQ in one place.

The pattern is the same as the stadium’s, so reserve the space when you buy the ticket rather than circling the block on the night.

The MARTA Option

MARTA is the cheapest way into the district and the one the stadium itself promotes on its parking and transportation page. Two stations sit close by. SEC District, the station that used to be called GWCC/CNN Center, is the preferred stop because it is effectively at the stadium’s doorstep.

Vine City is the second option on the same side of downtown.

The stadium’s transportation guidance puts the fare at $2.50 each way. MARTA’s better Breeze payment system is now live, which means you can tap a bank card or mobile wallet directly at the faregate. Older Breeze cards and tickets no longer work, and neither does the Breeze Mobile 2.0 app.

There is also the Rapid A-Line bus rapid transit route, which stops at South Downtown a short walk from the stadium and connects Five Points, Georgia State and Garnett stations.

If you would rather leave the car at a station and ride in, our guide to MARTA station parking covers which lots are free, which are paid, and what happens when a lot is full.

Rideshare, Bike Valet, and Getting Out Fast

Rideshare pick-ups run from two zones on event nights. Zone 1 is GWCC Bus Lane C on Northside Drive, a ten-minute walk from the stadium and the better choice if you exit through Gate 1 and head north. If the wait is long, Vine City is the nearest station for a faster departure, with a transfer to the Red or Gold line at Five Points.

Zone 2 is on Broad Street between Trinity and Mitchell Streets, which suits Gates 2 through 4 and gives quicker access to the airport, I-20 and I-75/85, with Garnett station as the nearby rail fallback and a transfer to the Blue or Green line at Five Points.

Cyclists get a free bike valet at Falcons games and Atlanta United matches, between Gates 3 and 4. It opens two hours before the event and closes an hour after, and check-in is digital, so you leave a mobile number and receive a claim ID by text.

A Two-Minute Arrival Plan

Decide in this order and the evening takes care of itself.

1. If you are not driving, take MARTA to SEC District and walk in.
2. If you are driving and want the simplest night, book an official stadium lot that matches your gate, then plan to arrive early.
3. If you are driving to a Falcons game and would rather leave the car outside downtown, use the Atlantic Station shuttle.
4. If you need accessible parking, book one of the four recommended lots and use the Northside Drive drop-off if you are being set down at the door.
5. If the car is staying home and you are riding in, check the station lots first so you are not hunting for a space at the last minute.

Our notes on downtown venues cover the Fox Theatre and the Georgia Aquarium, and the broader picture of city-run parking, meters and permits is in our Atlanta parking guide.

Rates, lot openings and event calendars change with the season, so re-check the stadium’s parking site on the day you drive.