Monopoly recently underwent a modern makeover.  Unlike the original 1935 board game which featured the real estate of New Jersey’s Atlantic City, the Here & Now Edition features current landmarks from 22 cities nationwide, and Americans voted on which landmarks would be included.  Atlanta’s own Centennial Olympic Park made it onto the board, beating out both Peachtree Street and Stone Mountain.  “We know everyone would love to own a property like Centennial Olympic Park, and we are very excited that now people will be able to simulate that wish through this timeless board game,” said Mark Banta, the Park’s General Manager.

Inspired by the question of what the board game would be like if it were created today, Monopoly selected the predetermined cities based on the current top travel destinations.  In addition to Atlanta, other cities represented on the board include New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C., Dallas, Seattle, Phoenix, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Miami, Denver, Houston, Cleveland, St. Louis, Orlando, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Honolulu, and Nashville.  Landmarks ranged from legendary streets and neighborhoods to national monuments. 

For the first time ever, Monopoly fans were able to decide what belonged on the new game board.  Fans answered the call by casting more than 3 million online votes for their favorite landmarks in their favorite cities during spring earlier this year.  Monopoly representatives, pleasantly surprised by the voter turn out, said it reflected Americans’ civic pride.  Fans were able to vote as often as once a day, encouraged by the fact the number of votes also determined the location of the landmarks on the game board.  The city generating the most on-line votes would land the coveted spot originally occupied by Boardwalk. 

In addition to the new property landmarks, the Here & Now edition has newly appraised property values and rents reflecting inflation, larger currency denominations, airports replacing railroads, and contemporary, commercialized game tokens including a New Balance running shoe, a Starbucks coffee cup and a box of McDonalds fries.

Boardwalk, the most expensive property on the game board, went to Times Square in New York City.  In addition to Hartsfield Airport, which replaced one of the railroads, Centennial Olympic Park represents Atlanta on the Monopoly: Here & Now edition.  Over 156,000 votes were cast for Atlanta landmarks with 44 percent of those votes for Centennial Olympic Park.  The Park replaced St. Charles on the original game board.  It is a pink property, with Rent at $100,000 and buying price $1,400,000.  Centennial Olympic Park, which was created as a gathering spot for the 1996 Olympic Games, and Boston’s Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox, are the only sports-related properties on the new Monopoly board. 

"For more than 70 years, Americans have enjoyed pretending to ‘own it all’ by purchasing Atlantic City, NJ streets," said Matt Collins, Vice President of Marketing for Monopoly manufacturer Hasbro. "The new MONOPOLY: HERE & NOW Edition allows players to own it all in today’s world as they buy some of the most valuable and famous real estate in the country."

A lasting legacy of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Centennial Olympic Park has become a performing-arts venue, community gathering-space and an anchor for downtown development. The Georgia World Congress Center Authority operates the 21-acre Park, as well as the Georgia Dome and Georgia World Congress Center. The three state-owned facilities are one of the largest combined sports, entertainment and convention center facilities in the world.