Fucking heart breaking:

Posted: 9:06 a.m. Monday, Nov. 11, 2013
Braves plan to build new stadium in Cobb
COMMENT(1)


By Tim Tucker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Braves plan to build a new stadium in Cobb County and move there from Turner Field at the start of the 2017 season, team officials said today.
Braves executives John Schuerholz, Mike Plant and Derek Schiller said the new ballpark will be built near the intersection of I-75 and I-285 in the Galleria/Cumberland Mall area. They said the team has “secured” 60 acres of land for the project.
The Braves said the project will be built in partnership with Cobb County. They indicated that Cobb County would provide public funds toward building the stadium but declined to provide details on that.
The Braves have played in downtown Atlanta since moving here from Milwaukee in 1966 and have played in Turner Field since 1997.
The team officials said the Braves will play the next three seasons at Turner Field before moving to Cobb.

from downtown to Marietta is a 30 minute drive, if traffic is smooth. More than that...Marietta, yo? I wonder what went into that decision.

FAQ
Why are you moving?

The Braves’ lease at Turner Field expires at the end of 2016, and we needed to find a long-term solution that ensured the Braves would remain in Atlanta for another generation. Turner Field needs $150 million in infrastructure work alone (replacing the seats, repairing and upgrading lighting, etc.), none of which would significantly enhance the fan experience.

If the Braves were to pay for additional projects focused on improving the fan experience, the additional costs could exceed $200 million.

Our new stadium will remain in the metro Atlanta area, just miles from the existing stadium with enhanced connectivity, increased access to major roads and more parking.

Our new location will give us the opportunity to develop the surrounding area of the new ballpark, transforming it into a mixed use, 365-day destination and creating an enhanced atmosphere for our fans during Braves games. There will also be significantly increased access to the site, enhanced parking opportunities, and, generally, easier access to and from major roadways with a variety of other transportation options.

Still, its a huge middle finger to their in town fans, and leaves a huge eyesore in the middle of downtown in the form of an abandoned Turner Field.....



You gon' live forever
Whether you want to or not
Some of us gon' end up holy
Some of us gon' end up hot.....

Hmm, Dome "needs to be replaced" so all that headache of getting the gulch space when this massive potential blank slate was going to be available just a little bit further down the road.

I had a good time and liked the stadium a lot, but all I heard from locals (old white people) was how bad the area is, how it is trash and they don't like going there.

I had no issues and have been to plenty of spots where stadiums are in poor areas so I didn't see the big deal, but people really made it sound like a huge problem for them.

Could this be why they are moving? Are white Atlanta metro residents uninterested in travelling to the scary city for the game?

From the statement:

"The reason for moving is simple. The current location has certain issues that are insurmountable and will only become more problematic over the years. These fundamental issues involve how you, our fans, access Turner Field. There is a lack of consistent mass transportation, a lack of sufficient parking and a lack of direct access to interstates. Furthermore, the Braves do not have control over the development of our immediate surroundings."

The Ted is still in a transitional neighborhood that the Braves, as a team, don't have any control over yet don't really do fucking anything to try and engage in, really. They are pissed because of the number of privately owned parking lots to the east and north of the stadium and how Fulton County doesn't share much of the revenue from their lots. They are also pissed because there was never a MARTA spur built right to their doorstep, even though a private company was going to fund a light rail line from the nearest stadium to it, with the project start date sometime this year (guess that's been iced). But overall, it's the "scary inner-city" and that the Braves fans they want to attract more of (suburban white people) are scared of, even when the city is booming on the near east side thanks in large part to the BeltLine, which every other smart business is going their utmost to get closer to rather than further away from.

They suck. They really suck for this. They claim they want transit, but there is actually no transit worth a damn in Cobb County since they have constantly voted out of funding Marta and have undercut Marta's attempts to extend service out there for years. I'm basically out as a fan after 2016 because I'm not going out there, damn sure not in a car.

"if they wanted transit and a location closer to their fan base they would have gone to Doraville's old GM plant. MARTA stops right there."

Even though nothing is still happening with it, Doraville residents voted out of the Falcons discussion, so this wasn't even broached.

This is a play to their more affluent fans in Cobb County. He also thinks the organization felt securing public funding in Atlanta in the wake of the new Falcons stadium was going to be a really tough sell given the relative newness of Turner Field.

and hop off the highway and roll some streets around the stadium...you will see some things, lol. Very good point man...I didn't think of that.

It's not a downtown problem; it's an Atlanta problem.

I work right by here. I-75/285 interchange sucks balls at 6:00 on a Wednesday because of everyone leaving work downtown to head back to the burbs.

that shit it a clusterfuck. Think about game time along with work traffic like you said. I've gotten caught coming through there heading back to the Lou during rush hour due to poor timing on my part. Shit is bananas.

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new place is still going to be empty

Which I believe Atlanta is the only city in the world currently still using a stadium built for the olympics for regular use (I think I heard that)

Not sure if that changes the use of public money or not, but I'm sure the Braves can wiggle out of any problems that way by saying it wasn't built for them, they just used it so it didn't become a waste.

.

This is a horrible idea. Turner Field is a really good ballpark too. Lack of mass transit so let's move to Cobb County! That's like, lack of heating oil so let's move to Maine.

NOTHING makes since here. Public transportation is out the window now. CCT is a joke in Cobb County

people don't know how shitty of a place the Trop is

For a team that's basically the 29th oldest team in baseball, behind the relocated Nationals.

moving from gwinnett county

what in the entire fuck?!?
i know that getting there on marta now kind of sucks, but getting to the new staduim is going to be even more of a clusterfuck. they're going to lose so many in-town braves fans.

why not go in with falcons stadium and try to move down there, or is that considered too "dangerous" as well?

I can't imagine they'd leave a decent ballpark for a shared stadium that's probably going to have shitty sightlines for baseball. Also, the Braves wouldn't own that stadium.

GWCC will/does own the Dome and new Dome, Braves are after more ownership and control over the future venue.

but i forgot that GWCC would be all in their pockets.

GWCC technically owns it, but Blank will receive virtuaLly all revenue from it.

Turner field is owned by Atlanta-Fulton Cty Recreation Authority and the Braves were a tenant. It was a sticky political situation in getting them to hand over the surrounding land to the Braves for development.

Outside of Tropicana, is any other MLB park located in a suburb? Can't imagine there's a lot of places to go after the game is over out there.

>Outside of Tropicana, is any other MLB park located in a
>suburb?

edit: Kauffman too, maybe? never been but it doesn't seem like there's much nightlife goin' on around that park, either

.

Near the paradise that is Independence, MO.

Milwaukee's kind of like KC, in that the stadium is in the city, but kind of in an outer/sparsely populated area that doesn't really have much. But at least there people are always tailgating.

Baseball generally isn't as tailgate friendly as football, so it generally works best putting it in a downtown area where there's enough bars and restaurants for afterwards.

http://www.atlantaga.gov/index.aspx?page=672&recordid=2415

That's basically a "yeah, you got me...but percolate on this" statement.
Going to be a libertarian riot going on out there tonight.

http://ow.ly/i/3GPhV/original

aka the Blackest area of the city

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cs8G_mY8jE

Disgusting

You know how fucked up the traffic is about to be ?

I mean, their building is only a few years younger than Turner Field.

whats gonna happen to the waffle house?

http://pic.twitter.com/gtylOHDiK4

.

But $450M for 81 games a year? We can come up with that!

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/breaking-news/cobb-schools-2013-14-budget-to-mean-furloughs-fewe/nXtKp/

SMH. Truly a race to the bottom.

She said the county is in a bad situation financially. They cut teaching jobs and have asked the remaining teachers to take pay cuts and to work additional days without pay.

Given the financial climate, how can you then put up $450 million in public money.




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fuck these governments, for real.

http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2013/11/12/cobb-gop-chairman-braves-transportation-fixes-cant-include-moving-people-into-cobb-by-rail-from-atlanta


That's it, I'm done with this team if this goes through. They knowingly got in bed with these assholes.

because after that Onion article about Dan Snyder ending the controversy by changing the team name to the DC Redskins, any real life person who gets outraged enough to demand a name change to the Marietta Braves, Cobb County Braves, or anything else Braves, deserves to be wholly mocked by all of the internets.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/183881678/Braves-Negotiations-Timeline

Just playing along and making impossible demands with no intention of ever committing regardless. That kind of deceit really makes my blood boil.

the team makes a decision and strikes a potential deal, then they have to put on a show that makes it seem like they are considering staying.

What's not clear to me is how the ACOG $209 million counts under this tallying, and where ACOG money came from (presumably some was public) but...

This is interesting:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

In an era of governments often committing taxpayer resources to
build stadiums, this tale is unusual: no public money was spent. In
actuality, it was financed by NBC, Anheuser-Busch, McDonald's,
AT&T, NationsBank, Delta Air Lines and IBM.

"This is probably the first time a baseball stadium has been
built with corporate sponsors and TV money from the Olympics,"
said Marc Ganis, the president of SportsCorp Ltd., a Chicago-based
sports consulting firm.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Also interesting:

(sorry the formatting is weird)

http://www.nytimes.com/specials/olympics/0730/oly-stadium-braves.html

<p> The stadium deal seems a win-win situation because of its
Olympic financing. Not only will Atlanta, Fulton County and the
Braves get what is essentially a free stadium, on free land, but
the remaining $9 million in debt on the old stadium will also be
paid off by the Atlanta committee.

<p> Emma Darnell, a Fulton County commissioner, railed against the
deal partly for the Braves' refusal to pay for future capital costs
beyond 20 years. "Our experience with Fulton County stadium is
that after 20 years, costs rise," she said. "Taxpayers will be
exposed."

* * * * * ^ ^ ^ This right here. She predicted trouble after 20 years ^ ^ ^ ^ * * * * *

<p> The Braves' lease on the stadium is for 20 years with options
for 10 more.

<p> "There's no problem with Ted Turner getting a free stadium, but
what do taxpayers get?" asked Darnell. "Is he getting all the
benefit? It's fictional that we get a benefit."

<p> Although critics have labeled the stadium lease a giveaway to
the Braves, Peter Bynoe, who negotiated the deal for Maynard
Jackson, who was the mayor at the time, said: "It was very
contentious, and the Braves gave in some points. The Braves wanted
it even sweeter than it is."

<p> Kasten said that his talks with city and county officials were
more grueling than baseball's labor negotiations. Regarding the
city's request that the team pay rent on a stadium it will
maintain, Kasten said, "What do they need the rent for, Christmas
parties?"

<p> Reggie Williams, executive director of the recreation authority,
said that he disagreed with the Atlanta committee's paying for a
ball park for a professional team. But given that the city, county
and state paid nothing for it, he said, nobody has much to complain
about.<br>

I like that this story got huge headlines all week but as far as I can tell, there are zero details about where Cobb Co is going to get $450,000,000.

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2013/11/13/6208/turner-field-marked-for-death-and-other-braves-move-updates/

Also, whether there will be a domino effect for other teams playing in 90s stadiums:

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/63874390/

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http://i.imgur.com/odm2YZ6.png
http://deadspin.com/chart-how-the-braves-atlanta-exodus-compares-to-other-1462494338

not distance moved

I think Miami and Atlanta would both be the outliers again.

fuck these people:

"That’d leave $300 million ($302 million would be 45% exactly) to be paid for by county taxpayers. That’d be a heck of a lot to saddle (Cobb County) commercial property owners with — the district has only raised $100 million total over the past 25 years."

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2013/11/14/6224/cobb-county-chair-braves-stadium-will-cost-taxpayers-302m/

http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2013/11/14/braves-deal-cobb-to-pay-for-55-percent-of-stadium-costs

As griftdrift* points out in the comments:

"This is the critical part.

" It also includes an $8.67 million "reallocation of revenues."

It's not a tax increase for homeowners. But it's a revenue shift which means unless you're already running a surplus means other areas supported by property tax will suffer.

Cobb County is not running a surplus and is in fact struggling with budget issues.

What they are gambling on is the values of the property digest will continue to increase and the increased revenue will make up the gap.

Counting on property value to continue to increase over a significant period of time. Sound familiar?

That's a big gamble given the continuing lack of stability in the housing market."

*if you haven't read his blog, you're missing out:
http://griftdrift.blogspot.com/

I think a cool architectural quirk would be to have about a dozen stripper poles on top of the outfield wall since ATL is known for strip clubs(but NOT cobb co). when a home run is hit, the dozen strippers emerge from a door and do their best routines aka cheif knockahoma. fans sitting in the outfield can make it rain on them if they want. i have a few other ideas.....

http://mlb.mlb.com/photos/gallery.jsp?content_id=75439804&c_id=atl

it's the American way.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-atlanta-braves-stadium/



Too long to swipe, but motherfuck Liberty Media. I have zero time for this "team" any more, despite living within spitting distance of the soon to be properly abandoned (only half-way abandoned currently) TED. This dismantling and cash grab is the most cynical, anti-sport thing that has maybe ever happened. Ever. They are making the Expos-Puerto Rico-Marlins thing look like a standard corpo relocation package.

i even had a 20 game run at the Ted as recently as 4 years ago. so it's surreal that i've emotionally abandoned this team the way i have these last few years. i've never seen a team fuck it's fans like this. hell, i even bought a house in Mechanicsville and i've yet to go to one game since i moved. the Hawks became relevant again at the right time i suppose.

I guess there just is fuck all else to do in Milwaukee (short of leaving the city, like most people have done in recent decades) than go watch a crappy baseball team.

I'd have a problem with this as well but I'm biased of course. You'd be straight but I'm good for at least five police stops per week because of reasons so this has the potential to effect me more.

Yeah...what's up, G.

That trip to Cobb County...may be delayed

Why? What's Up? I'm on my way to the stadium right now.

Yea, well your boy John said you got knocked

What?!?

I don't know what this about...sounds crazy...something about the worst start to a season in team history.

But I'm just glad it's finally done.

Is there anyone who didn't think the Braves would be terrible this season? What was he supposed to do with this roster?

.

Once they decided to rebuild it was a matter of time. Hell, it took Bobby Cox bugging the front office to get him the one year extension. Best case scenario he's gone at the end of the season anyway.

Add that in and the chirping about his contract status at the beginning of the season might as well take the bandaid off now. Best for everyone involved.

Seemed like a good dude but I won't miss his lineup construction or bullpen management.

Having the airline send the itinerary to him probably seemed convenient to the whoever was booking the travel at the time.

"An hour or so after the Braves’ 8-5 series-opening loss to the Pirates, a person familiar with the situation said Gonzalez received an email notifying him of his scheduled flight to Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon.

That was a bad sign, since the four-game series in Pittsburgh runs through Thursday."

How y'all send this man a one-way ticket home for the next day and not tell him what its for until hours later.

The 285 beltline Braces