Good morning. LEADOFF brings you today’s early buzz in Atlanta sports:
The Braves' improvement on the field in the second half of the season didn't carry over to their TV ratings.
Historically one of baseball’s more popular teams on television, the Braves finished near the bottom of the major leagues in local ratings this season, showing a continued decline after the All-Star break, according to a study of Nielsen data by SportsBusiness Journal.
The Braves' ratings in the Atlanta market for their game telecasts on Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southeast, which averaged 1.35 in the first half of the season, had fallen by last week to 1.18 for the season, the study showed.
That tied for the fourth lowest local TV rating among MLB teams this season and was down 35 percent from the year before, the third largest drop among MLB teams.
The only teams with lower average ratings than the Braves’ 1.18 were the Angels (1.04), White Sox (0.96) and A’s (0.68), SBJ’s analysis showed. The only teams with larger declines than the Braves’ 35 percent were the Diamondbacks (down 37 percent to 2.28) and Padres (down 39 percent to 2.40).
The rating equals the number of households out of every 100 in the market that watched on average.
The study, published this week, did not include games played in the final week of the regular season. But the final week wouldn’t have helped the Braves’ numbers because their six games last week averaged a 1.14 local rating.
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The Georgia-South Carolina football game won't be moved out of Columbia, the Gamecocks said Wednesday night. As for how Hurricane Matthew will affect the day — Saturday, Sunday, Monday? — and time of the game, "we anticipate a decision … to be made on Thursday," the school said in a statement.
“The safety of everyone affected by the storm and the minimization of the impact on emergency personnel are the most important factors in making the decision.”
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The Falcons organization gave itself some wiggle room Wednesday on exactly when Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be open for events, switching its stated date from June 1, 2017, to a more nebulous "summer" 2017.
But Steve Cannon, CEO of Falcons parent company AMB Group, said unequivocally the stadium will be open before the start of the Falcons’ 2017 season (and preseason). “We’re not worried about that at all,” he said.
Meanwhile, Atlanta United will play its home games in Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium for the first three to five months of its inaugural season next year.
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Noteworthy: D. Orlando Ledbetter reports on Falcons running back Tevin Coleman, who has the sickle cell trait and is preparing to play in Denver's high altitude. … The Hawks want all fans in attendance at regular-season home games to lock arms in a sign of unity. Teammates credit Dwight Howard with the idea. Chris Vivlamore has the details. … And in case you missed it yesterday, here's some interesting chatter about the Braves' manager candidates.
