The Atlanta Braves are getting a new stadium, and paying handsomely for it. The team is opening up a new ballpark in Cobb County come 2017, and is funding 55 percent of the $672 million cost, according to Jon Gillooly of the Marietta Daily Journal.
Braves paying 55 percent of new stadium cost
The organization will be funding more than half of the new stadium, where it will start playing in 2017.
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Why do the Braves need a new stadium?
Turner Field isn't that old, but the Braves plan to move out of the park by 2017 when their lease ends anyway. The rest of the funding will be public, coming from the residents of Cobb County. There have been promises made that more than 95 percent of the county will not see an increase in taxes to help fund the stadium project, with those in the “Cumberland County Improvement District” -- where the park is actually going -- the ones seeing a hike in their tax rate.
The move into Cobb County will represent a shift for the Braves, who have been playing downtown, in Fulton County, since the team moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee before the 1966 season.
Atlanta will be moving out of Turner Field, which is still a relatively new, albeit not baseball-specific, venue. The Braves starting playing there in 1997 after playing in Fulton County Stadium for over 30 years, winning a World Series in the building in 1995.
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