As a resident of Midtown, I get economic anxiety just walking down the street. It's comforting to know that the Braves feel the same way.
They actually have added some of the best restaurants in Atlanta. But yes, we'll all miss the good old days when the Braves were really in Atlanta and our food choices were the bullpen and a kfc/taco bell hybrid.
I always thought I was alone in thinking that since they showed design concepts. Most new stadiums have something that sets it apart from other ones. Braves new stadium is the basic bitch of MLB stadiums.
Some quick research shows The Battery will have Holeman and Finch (already had that), Antico, and a bar that will serve Fox Bros (Smith's Old Bar does this and it's not in Cobb).
Some error won't let me quote LetItSoak 's post but that's the thing that makes me the most angry. Like, fine, abandon your perfectly good stadium and flee town. But at least build something creative when you get there. It's a goddamn carbon copy of Turner.
I love Antico and Superica but hate the allure and convenience of their respective locations. Is there any hope for me?
Man, if I had a dollar for every time I thought "Antico and Superica would be great if not for all these goddamn Italians and Mexicans"
It's not but it's also not some huge selling point. The fact of the matter is they could have just as easily renovated Turner and brought in all of these restaurants there. Instead they chose to inconvenience an entire city by moving to the burbs
Allegedly, that wasn't an option. Whoever owns those parking lots/churches didn't want to sell. Having all of this at the old place would have been preferable but the new set up is clearly better than what we had.
Christian Walker is gone.. Claimed by the Reds. Weird, I thought he had a chance to make the team. Wonder if we have a trade brewing.
If you ignore everything except a handful of new restaurants being located in the stadium that's true
It's not. It's just very artificial feeling. It's like trying to create an authentic mini-Atlanta outside of Atlanta.
Well the Braves wanted to do this around Turner Field and it never got off the ground for multiple reasons. At some point, time to move on and do it elsewhere.
It's not complicated.. They own everything around the stadium. They are making lease money from all of this. The whole move is a big real estate deal for the Braves. It's going to allow us to compete in spite of our horrible tv deal.
They said it was a "million dollar wound" but I guess the Atlanta Braves keep that money because I ain't never seen any of it
They've done all of this through restrictive zoning and takings. They can absolutely get fucked, imo.
I guess my point is that you're claiming a massive economic impact that will be a major win for the team while not knowing anything about the actual economics of the move
So you think they'll lose money on the move? I went to a workshop about the move last year and one of the vps spoke. They absolutely think it's going to make them a ton of money in the long term. Maybe they are wrong or I'm naive for believing them.
After factoring in the 10 figure investment I don't think this move will make economic sense for the team
I understand not being crazy about the move in terms of location and traffic issues, but the love affair with throughly mediocre at best Turner Field is ridiculous.
I think the issue is that they created a carbon copy (with 3 new restaurants) of that thoroughly mediocre stadium and moved it to a place with no public transportation and massive existing traffic issues. So, from a fan perspective, everything is worse except the stadium food which feels like it could have been addressed for less than a billion dollars at the old facility. Also, instead of looking out at a view of the downtown skyline, you'll now have a good look at a shitty suburb
I'm not wild about Turner. Which is why I don't understand why you'd build a stadium from scratch that mimics its complete lack of character. There's nothing immediately memorable about the new park.
How did they come up with something so imaginative as the Mercedes Benz stadium and then just phone it in with Sun Trust park. I realize its two total different companies and sports but still.
It's not 3 restaurants. There are a bunch of restaurants, bars, retail, office buildings, a concert venue, hotel, parking decks etc. The Braves get a cut of it all. They think it will be profitable, you disagree. Time will tell.
"The corporation thinks it will be profitable" is not really a great counterargument to anyone's concerns
Typically the concerns here have been cheesecake factory jokes and misrepresentations of what's being built. Not exactly hard hitting fact driven arguments.
At a 6% annual return they'd make about $1.5 billion over the next 20 years investing that $700million vs. spending it on the stadium (not counting Cobb's $400 million here). I do believe it's unlikely they make that kind of incremental money speculating in the Smyrna real estate market but I guess we'll see.
I disagree, to a certain extent. I will miss the skyline, that's for damn sure. Hard to beat that view. But, they took the elements they liked from Turner Field to the new stadium, and improved upon the ones that they didn't like. Majority of the seats are much closer to the field. That's a plus. 60% of the seats will be in the shade. That's a plus. They cut out nearly 2/3'rds of the suites from Turner to SunTrust, creating some actual demand for the ~25 or so in SunTrust. They bumped up the amount of luxury/premium seats by leaps and bounds, which on their own generate the amount of revenue the rest of stadium seats do combined, allowing them to keep the non-luxury seats as affordable as possible. This really can't be understated enough. The lack of non-suite premium seating at Turner Field was a big problem. The infrastructure actually fits and was made with professional baseball team in mind, which doesn't seem like a huge deal, but makes the players happier, and makes it easier to sell free agents on the below the field amenities when they visit. Everyone likes the Chop House. It's now 3 stories with two decks, a field lounge and a nicer interior. Now they have that and a rooftop lounge in RF. You can actually come to the game and eat/drink at numerous places without tailgating, or having to eat at The Bullpen and spend the 3rd inning in the shitter. I don't know. Like I said, I get not being crazy about the locale or the traffic. I do. But the Braves get a new stadium that fits them well, multiple revenue streams on both the baseball and business side, and I get a new stadium with seats closer to the field for affordable prices and plenty of amenities. In terms of a wow-factor, that's enough for me. I don't need a giant home-run statue like the Marlins park or a retractable roof that looks like a sphincter. The area and amenities around the stadium are supposed to be the real wow-factors anyway. I don't mind that it looks similar to Turner Field. No one hated Turner Field, it was mediocre. It was fine. So taking what you liked, improving upon what you didn't and putting it in a familiar package works for me. I just want to see good baseball in a good venue. I think SunTrust can accomplish that.