Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Weekend Takeaways, Sarasota

Grapefruit League action is underway!  The Braves split a pair of games while an agreement for moving to Sarasota for 2019 is being finalized.

In the early afternoon hours on Tuesday, there will be a vote to solidify the future of the Atlanta Braves for many Februarys and Marches to come.

This will not be the final vote – for example, the city of North Port needs to sign on as well – but getting the Sarasota County Commission’s blessing is the key part of the deal to build a Spring Training complex on the South West coast of Florida for the Braves.

So while this is not “the end”, it is certainly a map for all parties to get there, and there is language that appears to betroth all signees to a final marriage down the road.

According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune, highlights of the agreement are as follows:

• The Braves will write an up-front check for $7.5 million and sign a 30-year lease
• Sarasota County and the Braves will pony up $11.3 million over 30 years for maintenance and other upgrades to the site – this divided evenly, so just under $200,000 per party per year.
• The Braves’ annual lease payments will be between $2 and $2.5 million.
• State grants are expected to provide $20 million toward the initial construction
• Sarasota County’s tourist tax revenues would add about $22 million
• 70 acres of land will be donated by the development authority of West Villages – a savings of roughly $8 mllion.  In addition, $7 million of infrastructure (roads, utilities) will be provided.
• The Braves will keep monies generated from direct operations of the facility.  Presumably that would include ticket sales, parking, concessions, and perhaps more.

In total, the package adds to $75.4 million for the facility, which includes the on-going maintenance and upkeep.

A Couple of Cherries on this Sundae

Also according to the Herald-Tribune…

"The team’s planned year-round sports medicine, fitness and physical therapy academy for its Major League Baseball players and future prospects is expected to be another $10 million part of the deal that will be privately funded. The agreement also will include county and city rights to host up to 10 formal public events at the stadium itself per year, up to 20 total days. A series of multi-use fields and a plaza planned in front of the stadium on West Villages Parkway are to be available to the public, county leaders have said."

So it will be a year-round facility… with the additional likelihood that the Braves’ Class-A team currently located in Kissimmee might relocate once that 4-year deal expires after the 2020 season… along with the added benefits of the public getting some use out of the new digs in North Port.

Let’s Git-R-Done.