Cobb coalition: Delay Braves stadium vote

[7962]

Source: Atl Journal

An ad hoc coalition of individuals and organizations has formed to try and delay Tuesday’s vote by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners on the proposed new Atlanta Braves baseball stadium.

The Cobb Citizens for Governmental Transparency wants at least a 60-day delay in the vote on the project, proposed for a site near I-75 and I-285.

The Braves stadium would cost an estimated $672 million, and county taxpayers would have to pay $300 million.
The coalition includes groups such as the the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots and the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club’s Cobb group.

Read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/cobb-coalition-delay-braves-stadium-vote/nb3zz/

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Yes, You read that right: a coalition between the Tea Party & Sierra Club, among others.
Larry O'Donnell asked on his show if the Tea Party, which is apparently strong in Cobb Co., would rise against what he termed "sports socialism".
Politics makes strange bedfellows.......

[onehandle]

1. Meh. Let Cobb County have the Braves.

A team with a racist identity should be sent out to the racist donut of counties that surround Atlanta.

[Hoyt]

4. Good point, I'm sure the coalition is a bunch bigots afraid Marta wil come to Cobb.

I'm not sure the move is good for Atlanta, but there are plenty of places who'd be glad to have them (perhaps with another name). Cobb Crackers might work.

[House of Roberts]

6. MARTA still doesn't reach to Cobb County?

That was the problem when I lived there in 1987-88, that the restaurants and stores couldn't find enough people to work because of the lack of transportation from other, less affluent areas.

[Hoyt]

7. Well they do have the Cobb Transit system, but the separatists still don't accept Marta.

[Fumesucker]

19. No, they can't find enough people to work because the pay and conditions are miserable

[Crowman1979]

2. They want a new stadium already, and the current one isn't more than 20 years old?!?!

I swear, certain spectator sports are driving me to the point of not giving a f*** about them anymore.

[onehandle]

5. Turner Field is a beautiful stadium.

Building another this soon would be a crime.

[olddad56]

10. It isn't about the condition of Turner Field,

and it almost seems like white collar crime. It is about the developers seeing an opportunity to get richer. The sports arena and stadiums are becoming the anchors for new expansive retail developments. Build a new ball field, or arena, then develop the adjacent property to include luxury hotels, condos, restaurants, bars, shops, etc.

And the local municipality pays from at least half. This isn't only happening in Atlanta. The City of Sacramento has been conned into the same thing with the proposed new arena for the Kings.

Taxpayers pay several million dollars to build it, developers and associated businesses make a fortune, corporations buy the luxury boxes, write them off, and normal folks can't even afford to take their family to a game.

[StevieM]

8. I know, I can't believe that one of the new wave stadiums is already being deemed unacceptable and

in need of replacement. I suppose you could sort of make a case for the Ballpark at Arlington, since I have heard that there are heat problems based on how the stadium was originally designed. But I don't understand the need for the Braves to move, unless they are totally convinced that their fan base would prefer them to be out in Cobb County, in which case they should never have been negotiating with Atlanta to begin with.

I'm also not sure why the lease was only for 20 years, rather than 30 like it usually is. I guess it is possible that it had something to do with the Olympics, although I am not sure what that would be.

[aggiesal]

11. It was built in 1996 for the Olympics. . .

converted to baseball after the Olympics. Braves moved in 1997.
So yes, the braves have only played for 17 seasons. But of course
the team doesn't own the stadium and their lease is expiring.
So they're looking for better terms. Basically, the team becomes a free
agent for any community to build them a new stadium.

My contention has always been, you want a new stadium, we (the public)
will front the bonds to build the stadium, but now the sports team has a 30
mortgage.
After 30 years the team now owns the stadium.

[davidpdx]

12. Yep there should be no free ride for sports team anymore

Lots of teams are having difficulties finding a way to build new stadiums because of the old way of thinking that the tax payers should finance them.

Oakland is one of those examples (both the A's and Raiders) play at Oakland Coliseum which was opened in September 1966. The 49ers had to move to Santa Clara to finally get a deal to get out of Candlestick (which was pretty old as well). Oakland had the chance to move to Santa Clara and share the stadium, but blew it by waiting too long. They are now stuck in the old place until they can figure out a deal or move back to LA.

Given the fact that the NFL is tax exempt, people should be encouraging them to invest more of their profits into stadiums then the small amount they currently are.

[aggiesal]

15. Chargers have the same issues . . .

A little background; I used to do volunteer work for the SD Padres,
and when they wanted to build what would become Petco, I was
part of the local community that got to meet with the Padres ownership
to discuss fhec stadium deal. I specifically told Larry Luchino that the public
should fund the bonds but the Padres ownership now have a mortgage.
The look on Luchino's face was priceless.

After Petco got approved on Padres terms, and promises broken, and the
ridiculous terms for the Chargers at Qualcomm, very few in San Diego
will allow a publically financed stadium for the Chargers. And with very few
corporate dollars to privately finance a $300M+ stadium, the Chargers
are having a difficult time trying to move out of Qualcomm.
I believe that they will eventually move to Orange County with a new
stadium deal in Irvine or Tustin.

[davidpdx]

16. Very interesting

California seems to have their hands full with the number of professional teams they have. I know LA has wanted a team for awhile now, but has been unable to put together a deal to lure a team there.

A decade ago when the Montreal Expos were in trouble there was intense lobbying between two or three cities including Portland to try to have someone buy the team and move them there. Being up against the bigger money in Washington, it's not a surprise we lost. We now have a major league soccer team (Portland Timbers) that occupy what was Civic Stadium in addition to the Trail Blazers.

[aggiesal]

17. Farmers Field in LA next to the Staples Center . . .

may be a viable option.
http://aegworldwide.com/facilities/stadiums/farmersfield

The Chargers have a yearly lease option at Qualcomm until
2020. That means that every year the Chargers have 3 months
to bargain a deal with another city, before they excersize their
option to continue using Qualcomm.

When Farmers Field is complete (2015) the Chargers may
move back to their original city of LA.

There are rumors about building a stadium complex in
Irvine's great park, formerly El Toro Airfield for both the
Angels and the Chargers. 2 stadiums: one for each team,
sharing 1 parking lot. Great Park is located right at the
I-5 & I-405 merge.

[davidpdx]

18. Might as well if it's being built just send them back to LA

I know that LA has talked about trying to get one of the weaker performing teams Minnesota, Jacksonville, etc.

[dballance]

3. COBB=County Operated By Bigots

According to my friends who live there - that's what they call it.

I don't understand why cities and counties get away with funding these private, for-profit stadiums.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

9. This black girl who grew up in Atlanta knows what this deal is all about: white folk afraid...

of us knee-grows coming in their 'hood. Problem is, we and our brown and yellow brothers and sisters are already coming in. The Teabaggers are scared as hell. Even if the Braves come to town, it won't stop us from continuing our journey into Cobb/Marietta.

Yes, Newtie, that means you, too!!!

[7962]

13. Theres a difference between the Falcons deal and the Braves too

Arthur Blank, owner of the Falcons, is putting up 800 million towards the facility. The rest comes from hotel room tax revenue. Also, the Ga Dome is used for a whole lot of events other than the Falcons. Most of those events fill up eateries and hotel rooms too. I dont think the same can be said for the baseball field. Ive never seen much going on there other than baseball. (Although a fair is in the parking lot right now)

[groundloop]

14. I've been following this closely since it was announced.....

I've heard a few people claim the Braves want to get out of Atlanta and move to Cobb because Cobb is whiter than Atlanta, I don't believe that for an instant. It's all about money, the Braves will more than likely be able to get a better deal with the new stadium and make more money.

One thing that doesn't get mentioned is their horrible television contract, they get around $10 million per year from television whereas the Dodgers get around $240 million per year. Before Time-Warner sold the Braves to the current owners they entered into that deal which, from what I've heard, gave Time-Warner stations exclusive rights to the Braves for 20 years at the cheapest cost in major league baseball.

The Braves have claimed that they're moving closer to their fan base. That I can believe. There have been maps made showing where people live who buy tickets, and that argument looks to be legitimate.

The Braves have also claimed that Turner Field needs over $100 million in infrastructure work, that argument I believe is pure bullshit. Turner Field is a great stadium, there's nothing wrong with it. Plus it's already paid for.

As far as certain racist elements in Cobb County being against the deal because they're afraid it will bring more non-whites to the area, that's probably accurate. Cobb County isn't all bad, but there are certainly vocal pockets of racist bigots there.

I'm personally against the move because as I see it ultra rich owners are sucking up taxpayer money to help make them even richer. It will be a shorter drive for me to get there, but I like Turner Field and it just doesn't make sense to spend taxpayer money on something that's not necessary.