The Braves executives who met with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed on Wednesday later reaffirmed the team’s commitment to moving to Cobb County.
“We’re going to Cobb,” executive vice president of business operations Mike Plant said in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But we’re in Atlanta. We’re going to be in (metro) Atlanta for decades.”
Plant and the Braves’ general counsel, Greg Heller, met with Deal and Reed.
“The mayor asked the governor to get us together just to get an understanding of what we’re doing going forward,” Plant said.
As for whether the Braves were asked by the mayor or governor to reconsider their plan to build a new stadium that would open in 2017 in Cobb’s Cumberland Mall/Galleria area, Plant said: “We didn’t talk about that. (It was) just to get an understanding of where we’re going. It’s been a tough five, six days since last Thursday (when team officials informed Reed of the planned move to Cobb).”
In interviews with the AJC on Wednesday, Braves executives revealed some new details regarding their stadium plans:
- Team officials "visited the Doraville site a couple of times," Plant said, referring to the site of the former General Motors plant, before focusing on Cobb County.
- Personal seat licenses will not be part of the plan for financing the cost of the stadium, Braves executive vice president of sales and marketing Derek Schiller said. "None" will be sold, he said.
- The statues and commemorative bricks at Turner Field will be relocated to the new stadium complex, Plant said.
- Schiller said the Braves have "by and large" gotten positive feedback from season-ticket holders about the move, but he acknowledged some negative responses too. "Some of that is probably the emotions behind being a fan of a place and having memories here at Turner Field," Schiller said. "And some … has to do with the site we selected in relevance to where (a fan) is traveling from. We expected there was going to be some negative reaction, but we believe in the end … the benefits in the new stadium, coupled with the mixed-use development and fan experience, will make those people who might have negative feelings (turn) positive" about the move.
- The Braves have started background work for selling naming rights to the stadium, Schiller said. The team received a report "just over the past couple of days that helps us understand what the valuation is" of the naming rights, he said. He would not disclose the projected value.
Plant said the Braves will continue investing in the Atlanta community long beyond their move to Cobb.
“We’re going to be here (at Turner Field) for three more years,” he said. During that time and beyond, “we’re going to be a good corporate citizen in the community and in education and all the programs that we have been a part of in Atlanta.”
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