Three things we learned this week from the business side of Atlanta sports (please click the links for more details):
1. The Braves' payroll keeps shrinking. The team has $77 million in guaranteed contracts for this season, according to a securities filing by owner Liberty Media, and the projected payroll currently ranks fourth lowest in the majors. Meanwhile, Liberty's CEO acknowledged that the Braves' local TV deal will remain bad until 2027.
2. Atlanta's Super Bowl bid gets new competition. And it's a formidable competitor: Los Angeles, which this week joined the bidding for the 2020 and 2021 Super Bowls. The Atlanta bid group's preference remains the February 2019 Super Bowl, but if the city loses out to Miami, New Orleans or Tampa for that one, L.A. could be tough to beat for 2020. And just in case, Atlanta now will add 2021 to its bid. Decisions on the 2019, 2020 and 2021 Super Bowl sites will come from NFL owners at a vote May 23-25 in Charlotte.
3. The Chick-fil-A cow is leaving Turner Field a year early. The massive steel-and-fiberglass cow, which has towered over left field at The Ted since 2008, will be removed by crane this weekend. The cow will be trucked to New Orleans for refurbishment and will be reinstalled at SunTrust Park next month, about a year before the new ballpark opens. Chick-fil-A's long-time partnership deal with the Braves will contine in SunTrust Park. (And for the record, the Braves' record in games played at Turner Field is 348-267 since the cow took up residence there.)
ICYMI, other recent stories on the business of sports in Atlanta:
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