Would a Baseball Team in Nashville Disrupt Braves Country

With talks of a Major League Baseball team coming to Nashville we look at how that could affect the Atlanta Braves and their wide draw of fans.

For many years now the Atlanta Braves have been the team of the Southeast with very little competition in the area.

But that could be changing in the coming years according to a report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today stating that there is a strong push for a baseball team in Nashville, Tenn.

There is obviously a long way to go with the proposal for this team, but there are a lot of big names involved and I think this will get serious consideration from the commissioner.

And honestly, it’s time for another team in the Southeast.

While I love the idea of ‘Braves Country,’ as a fan of the entire game I hate that the second closest Major League stadium from my house in Birmingham is 9 hours away.

I personally think it would be great to have another big league club nearby to visit, and it could help bring a huge rivalry between the Braves and Stars — what they plan to call the team in Nashville.

Atlanta has never really had a close territorially rival. I think this could be a good thing for both teams.

And I really don’t think the Braves would lose a ton of fans to a team in Nashville. Sure, they’d likely lose some fans who live in Tennessee and upper Alabama, but they’d still own most of Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas.

I do think it’s time for expansion in baseball and Nashville is the most likely destination as the city there is booming. If they can sell out hockey games I’d hope they can draw fans to baseball games.

It could also be a relocation for a team like the Tampa Bay Rays. If they aren’t able to build a new stadium in Tampa then they could look at moving the team to Nashville.

Either way, I would not be surprised at all if another MLB team is added to the Southeast region in the next five years and I think it will be a great thing for the Braves and baseball fans in the area.