Shadow of the Stadium: Braves Still Willing to Go Anywhere Someone Will Build Them a Palace

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Braves Still Willing to Go Anywhere Someone Will Build Them a Palace

In a piece of news that shouldn't really count as news....the Atlanta Braves are now talking to Sarasota County about a possible new spring training stadium in the city of North Port.

No surprise to readers of this blog and twitter account:

UPDATED: #Braves spring training available to first Fla. community to offer $70M stadium https://t.co/aLyz0ZRp4O
— Shadow of Stadium (@StadiumShadow) February 18, 2016

The Braves are also speaking to Palm Beach County about a possible stadium on the East Coast, and have had previous talks with Pinellas County. However, discussions for Pinellas' Toytown property off I-275 and Roosevelt Blvd. have been tabled while the county works with St. Petersburg on plans for a possible new Rays stadium. And a 2015 idea to move to Pasco Co. died when the money never materialized.

But Sarasota taxpayers beware - I previously exposed how the county never got some of the amenities promised by the Orioles in exchange for the $31.2 million in renovations they got for relocating to Sarasota in 2010. That included a Cal Ripken Jr. youth baseball academy.

But county officials and the Orioles denied misleading anyone, claiming in 2012 they still had plans to build an academy. In 2016, taxpayers are still waiting for that youth academy.

The Braves have one more year left on their lease at Disney's Wide World of Sports, but they've shown little interest in staying in the Orlando area.