Monday, November 11, 2013


It’s Still the Atlanta Braves

ATLANTA, Ga. --The folks who made sure the Enola Gay would deliver its cargo unbeknownst to the Japanese would be happy with the way the Braves dropped their own bombshell this morning about building a stadium in Cobb County.

There are a number of ways to look at this, but one of the first things that came to mind for me was the regional aspect of the move. Many cities, Houston being one, have sought to grow the metro area and forget about petty bickering among local communities. Atlanta has often forgotten this principle and infighting has cost us many a new business and has resulted in monumental expenditures. The Atlanta metro area is Atlanta regardless if the stadium is in Cobb or downtown.  I believe a strong center city is important and should not be neglected, but if a regional approach were adopted, every part of the city, including the downtown would benefit.

Another thought involves the condition of Turner Field. It’s not bad, but it’s losing ground with regard to being a state-of-the-art facility. I remember talking to John Schuerholz (when he first arrived here) about the old Fulton County Stadium and its deficiencies. Schuerholz was prescient. Imagine if we had not replaced Fulton County what an ancient facility it would be today. The same is true of Turner Field which is losing ground to newer parks in places such as New York, Pittsburgh, Miami, San Diego, and the list goes on. To remain competitive in a very competitive business you need to maximize revenue and only a stadium with all the amenities can do that in today’s environment.

Access to the Cobb County site is a concern, but officials say they’ll be working on that. And, of course, getting to Turner Field was no easy task, particularly during a key series.

One more concern is that the team will start all games later than 7:10 p.m. on weeknights and Saturdays. They already start Friday games at 7:40 p.m., but with the length of games now, the Braves can ill afford to have folks leaving the stadium after 11 p.m. So what if you miss the first inning or two. At least if the game starts at 7 p.m. you have a shot at staying untill the end. If baseball cares about engaging younger fans and building for the future, it can’t start games any later and would be well-served to work harder at controlling their length .

Is the possibility of keeping the team downtown dead? The city leaders will meet Wednesday, but this deal looks like it is in the bag. While Stan Kasten used a power play and threatened to move the Hawks up 400 to force the city’s hand on Phillips Arena, the Braves move has the appearance of the real thing. Twice Schuerholz has made behind-the-scenes deals regarding the Braves and both have stuck. The first was the Braves move from West Palm to Orlando for Spring Training. The second involved the move of the Braves Triple A franchise to Gwinnett. So, it looks like Mr. Schuerholz has done it again, and in doing so has one-upped Arthur Blank. The Braves new stadium will open in April of 2017. The Falcons new nest opens in August or September of that same year.

 

 

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