Since Truett Cathy opened his first chicken restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia more than 70 years ago, he's made it a company policy to give Chick-fil-A employees the day off on Sundays — no exceptions.
Not even for Super Bowl Sunday.
Super Bowl LIII will take place in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of one of Chick-fil-A's more than 2,000 restaurant locations. However, the location will be closed on Feb. 3 when the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots square off. That means Super Bowl attendees won't be able to enjoy the game with a chicken sandwich and waffle fries.
Chick-fil-A FOMO is nothing new to NFL fans in Atlanta. The restaurant has had a location in Mercedes-Benz Stadium since it opened in 2017, but the location has only been open for two regular season Falcon games — a Thursday night loss to the Vikings in 2017, and a Monday night win against the Giants in 2018. According to sports business reporter Darren Rovell, the Chick-fil-A still finished third in items sold among all concession stands throughout the stadium 2017 despite being open for just a single game.
Even though Chick fil-A was closed for 7 out of 8 regular season Falcons games, @SteveCannonCEO says the stand finished 3rd in number of items sold among food stands in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. pic.twitter.com/QqwPoAO31f
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 26, 2018
The Chick-fil-A still slings plenty of chicken nuggets at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, though. Between Atlanta United soccer games, the SEC football championship, the Peach Bowl, the 2018 NCAA football National Championship and various other events, the restaurant is open for about 100 events a year.
When not serving Chick-fil-A, the location operates as "Fries Up," a French fry stand.
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
