Can I ask you guys something? Atlanta is all tripped out over this Braves issue

[CatWoman]

Basically the Braves want to move one county over, at a cost of .5B, to another stadium. And this is at taxpayers expense.

Presently the ball park is in Fulton County, part of Atlanta. Atlanta recently coughed up several million to pay historic black churches to relocate so that the city can expand and renovate the Georgia Dome, home of the Falcons.

I'm heartbroken about the church deal. But that's another story.

The Braves are moving to a more wealthy, heavily Caucasian area. Next to a mall. Full of traffic. Can you believe that?

And the mayor says he can't afford the asking price, and will turn the Braves current home (Turner Stadium) into homes for middle class families. After the church deal, all that is left is going toward green energy and badly needed infrastructure repair.

Enough background - my question is: did the mayor do the right thing? A lot of people here are on the Braves' side and want to keep them where they are regardless of the cost.

[rug]

1. Why should the government give a private corporation $500,000,000?

[CatWoman]

2. They just gave the black churches millions

It appears history can be bought.....

[rug]

4. If I follow you, they gave them that money so they could build a football stadium

for another private corporation.

Are they spending more on the Falcons?

[Erose999]

8. Well said. As a Braves fan and a GA resident, I think the team is making unreasonable demands. I

also thought the Falcons were making unreasonable demands with what they asked for. I think that the mayor gave away the store to the Falcons. And when the Braves saw what the Falcons were getting they ran to the mayor with their hand out, but there was nothing left to give.

Theres also the fact that the owner of the Falcons, Arthur Blank draws a lot of water in Atlanta, while the Braves are owned by an ouf-of-state corporation, Liberty Media.

The last game I went to was in 2012 and I had a blast. The Ted looked great and did not seem to be lacking in any way. Its not in the best part of town, but neither are my other favorite places in Atlanta.

Fun fact about the Ted, it was built for the olympics and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games promised it would pay most of the cost, which it did. The stadium was built in 1996 and paid of in 1997. ACOG also footed the bill for converting it from an 85,000 seat Olympic Stadium to a 45,000 seat MLB ballpark, removig temporary seating and demolishing part of the structure.

The Ted is owned by the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority and leased to the Braves. The current lease runs through 2016

[Bucky]

3. Houston has three sports facilities, all tax supported, near my neighborhood

They are big draws and a few restaurants and bars around them are doing okay with the business they bring in once a week or so. That said, I still live in a pretty poor neighborhood. There's a few yuppie condos around, built up in anticipation of a general area renaissance coming out of those stadiums, plus the big park and convention center built there right in the middle of all those stadiums. But other than a few condos, the neighborhood is still poor, featuring a number of abandoned or undeveloped properties in spitting distance of the big tourist draws.

My point is, spending gazillions in keeping a sports team really doesn't help the city all that much. It creates a few jobs, but not many, not an urban renewal sort of job increase. Building the stadiums created jobs--construction jobs--but the ongoing employment created by sports teams are part time and poor-paying. A city would do better to create arts centers, modern micro-manufacturing zones, and vocational training centers that will create an educated workforce to attract full time employers.

Sports teams can help with some tourist traffic, but having a competitive local workforce will create long term growth.

[1000words]

5. Publically-funded stadiums are simply more corporate welfare.

You know who was a "pioneer" in the grift? The Texas Rangers and their owner George W. Bush.

[tularetom]

6. Any mayor who refuses to be extorted by a team owner did the right thing

I understand that some white fans were upset about having to attend games in a predominately African American area and I think it's unfortunate that the team rewarded these bigots by moving into their suburban enclave.

But in the long run it's the taxpayers of Cobb County, not Fulton who are going to foot the bill for the new facility. And they too will find themselves being screwed one day when the greedy owners threaten to move elsewhere unless yet another new stadium is built for them.

Anytime a city tells these bloodsuckers to fuck off it's a good thing.

[Erose999]

9. I'm all for Cobb County getting screwed. Worst county in GA, hands down. Pretty much the base of

power for the GOP in GA.

[WillyT]

7. Ah Gato Mujer... When You Find THAT Answer... You Will Find The Rot At The Base Of America...

Good health on your journey.

[Jamaal510]

10. Of course he did.

Like Lawrence O said, we have come to a point where sports owners are now demanding a new "toy" every so often once they get bored with their old ones. The owner of the team is probably so rich that he can pay for his own stadium. This should apply to all professional teams. They (with the exception of the Green Bay Packers) are all for-profit businesses. Therefore, they can (and should) pay for their own stadiums. Local governments have much more important matters to spend money on that have a bigger impact on people's lives, like jobs and education.

[Chan790]

11. Yeah, he did.

Though he should have told Blank to take a hike too and left the churches intact. The money wasted on the Falcons could have done a lot of good for Atlantans.