Business
Business

Dump Braves name? Ga. minor league team considers options

Attendance has fallen sharply for the Gwinnett Braves, a minor league team for the Atlanta Braves. The triple-A team’s general manager, North Johnson, said he’s looking for tactics to reverse the slide at Coolray Field north of Lawrenceville near the Mall of Georgia. MATT KEMPNER / AJC

Credit: Matt Kempner

Credit: Matt Kempner

Attendance has fallen sharply for the Gwinnett Braves, a minor league team for the Atlanta Braves. The triple-A team’s general manager, North Johnson, said he’s looking for tactics to reverse the slide at Coolray Field north of Lawrenceville near the Mall of Georgia. MATT KEMPNER / AJC
By Matt Kempner
Sept 6, 2016

There are two kinds of winning: on the field and in the box office.

The Gwinnett Braves, the Triple-A minor league team of the Atlanta Braves, just snagged a playoff berth. But when it comes to attracting fans to home games near the Mall of Georgia off I-85, the team is hurting so bad that the general manager is considering changing the team's name.

North Johnson said he's tried just about everything legal he can think of to get people into the stadium the county built for the team. But attendance is the worst of 30 Triple-A teams in the International and Pacific Coast leagues.

One issue: Some people apparently confuse the team with its major league parent downtown. What name would attract fans?

Checkout one of Johnson's name ideas and the government help he wants to get some games back on TV, in my latest Unofficial Business column on myAJC.com.

About the Author

Matt Kempner is an award-winning journalist who seeks out intriguing twists about people and subjects beyond what the AJC might typically cover. A former columnist and editor, his past assignments have included business investigations, energy, the economy, entrepreneurs, big business, consumer spending, politics, government and the environment.

Follow Matt Kempner on facebookFollow Matt Kempner on twitter
More Stories

Keep Reading

A gas station is shown at a Kroger in Alpharetta. Kroger is closing four locations in metro Atlanta, including one at 11877 Douglas Road in Alpharetta. (Michael E. Kanell/AJC)

Credit: Michael E. Kanell

Kroger to close 4 metro Atlanta stores

The closures are part of a plan to close 60 'underperforming' stores nationwide over the next 18 months.

Are you a scrappy business or developer? This $50M campaign is here to help.

Momentus Capital recently announced it will invest $50 million in the Atlanta area to help small businesses and novice developers scale their operations.

Second round of rural development grants could help communities transform

Ten rural Georgia counties will receive a combined $8 million in the state’s second round of grants in the Rural Site Development Initiative, Gov. Brian Kemp announced.

The Latest

Two participants from a national training program by Momentus Capital are seen walking through Atlanta in 2023. (Courtesy of Momentus Capital)

Credit: Courtesy of Momentus Capital

Are you a scrappy business or developer? This $50M campaign is here to help.

THE STEERING COLUMN

Toyota hits gas on going almost all-hybrid by including its bestseller

Aflac discloses cybersecurity breach, the latest to rattle insurance sector

Featured

Apartment complex community members look at the stuffed animals, snacks and drinks that rest at the base of a basketball goal with balloons in memoriam of Ja’Nylen Greggs in Atlanta on Friday, June 20, 2025. The apartment complex community is mourning 12-year-old Greggs after he was killed in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting. (Abbey Cutrer / AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com

He went out to play. A drive-by shooting made him Atlanta’s youngest homicide this year.

An Atlanta neighborhood mourns a 12-year-old boy who died from gunfire.

‘You hope for peace’: Georgians grapple with fallout after Iran strike

Georgians and visitors to Atlanta interviewed Sunday in Buckhead expressed concerns about why President Trump ordered strikes on Iran and what will happen next.

Senate Republicans set up potential clash with House on ‘big, beautiful bill’

How does the Senate version of the tax and spending bill differ from the one that barely passed the house?