If the Braves ever left Atlanta

I support the team, not the city. Never have and probably never will live in Atlanta, so the city they call home is irrelevant to me.

The Atlanta metro area is currently the 9th-biggest in the US (was 11th biggest a decade ago).

It has more than a million more people than the next closest metro area without an ML team (San Bernardino, etc.), though that metro area is really close to the Dodgers/Angels market.

The next largest metro area without a major league team is Portland (OR), which has 3 million fewer people than the Atlanta metro area.

Oh, but you might say, who cares about population? It’s media market that matters. Well, Atlanta is the nation’s 8th or 9th biggest media market—you have to go 10/11 spots down the list to get to the next closest without a team (Orlando).

Basically, it would be weird if the Braves left, because the destinations will most likely be worse for the franchise than Atlanta is, at least in the long run.

I can’t think of any alternate destinations, for many of the reasons Ivan mentioned, but the question of how I’d feel if the Braves left Atlanta is a fascinating one, and one I admittedly can’t say I’ve ever even thought about.

At first blush, I’m sad to see the Braves go. The thought of not having a hometown team anymore is kind of disappointing. Now the closest professional team remains the Gwinnett Braves, and they’re not nearly as close and convenient for me to go to as the Ted is.

Upon further contemplation, I evaluate myself and see that I’ve detached myself a little bit from my sports fandom the last few years, because frankly I tire, and I tire others, with my unfavorable plight of rooting for sports teams. Not having the Braves nearby wouldn’t be so different from the time when I split with my last relationship, and I was mopey and bummed and even with homestands abound, I favored the comfortable solitude of air-conditioning, a big screen and a sixer. I love ballparks as much as the next enthusiast, but I don’t really want to be outside for 4 hours when it’s 101F outside sometimes.

Depending on where the Braves land next, it could be financially beneficial, or really financially beneficial. Not going to 30+ home games a year would be a good chunk of change, and if they moved to a market outside of MLB.TV territory, I could ditch the cable television I rarely watch and just get MLB.TV, which would save me even more money.

The Braves now being a destination team might bring some meaning back to going to games, if I had to legitimately travel for them.

In all, I’d care not having a hometown team any longer, but upon several lines of thinking, it’s certainly not the end of the world for me.

I’m all for the move, let’s write it in stone and make it happen tomorrow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS3NpKFsF4g&feature=related

dont see this happening, but if it did it wouldnt matter… the Braves are the Braves no matter where they play.

All of this is pure speculation, so let me add this bit. If such a thing did happen, let’s assume that attendance has remained mediocre while our young franchise goes on a tear and starts winning (deep play-off births and a WS) . Very far-fetched but that would be the only condition that would warrant a change of location.

With that unlikely hypothetical scenario in mind, the team would have a real opportunity to create excitement to the degree that a franchise might become ingrained in the culture. Unlikely, given that the culture seems to have forgotten about baseball outside of Chicago and the Northeast, but still, size and excitement/city-wide cultural infiltration are both equally important.

And that’s really the point. To a very large extent Atlanta (as a population) is totally devoid of baseball culture. Now you might rightfully say that the South values sports more than other regions, so Atlanta should represent that and be more baseball friendly than the average city. This is true, but I didn’t have to detail how football oriented this region is. So these sports fans are far more likely to be college football fans than baseball fans. This is the lack of baseball culture I’m talking about. I mean compare us to Chicago (admittedly, Da Bears) or Boston or even New York (huge, diverse population with a strong baseball sub-culture, though I imagine a plurality of citizens couldn’t care less.)

Though Atlanta’s population is more than capable of strongly supporting a baseball team (and did so for years in the 90’s,) some level of excitement has gone and the culture has changed, and to a certain extent that is always going to limit attendance despite performance.

I’m a little biased cause it would only be an hour away from where I live , but the team may be able to survive there . They have the Panthers in the NFL . The Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA . Then there is Charlotte Motor Speedway for nascar . And there is also the Z-Max Dragway for NHRA right across the road from the speedway . They do have a minorl league team affiliated with the White Sox in the Charlotte Knights . But I don’t know if that would affect the move or not . And every place I go to around here there is Braves fans .

They have a good market, a nice stadium and a lot of history/tradition, much of which has been established in Atlanta so it would seem odd for them to move. Personally, I think each team should stay where they are at (of course if the Phillies left, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it).

I don’t think the Braves would leave Atlanta, at least not anytime soon. I could see the Rays moving, however, but as I mentioned above, we’ll have to wait and see if their potential new media deal re-invigorates the team financially. But assuming that doesn’t happen and they do move, my personal choice would be for them to go to Montreal, so I could go to the games, but I do realize that is highly unlikely.

I do think that the Rays would be successful in Vancouver and I think it would be helpful to MLB as a whole. First, the leagues could be balanced; the Rays would join the AL West and then a NL Central team could be put in the AL East. (There could be other ways to re-arrange it, but it would be much easier with that additional Western team.)

I think team would be successful due to multiple reasons; the metro area is nearly 3 million, there is a large Asian population in the city, and that would give Canada a 2nd team, allowing a rivalry between the Rays and Jays to form.

The ONLY way I would be OK with this hypothetical situation would be if they moved to Raleigh or Charlotte. Of course those are based on selfish reasons. 6 hour trip to Atlanta vs. 1hour trip to Raleigh or 2 hour trip to Charlotte is a no brainer. But it would still be weird, I’d feel like a thief almost. A happy thief no doubt, but a thief. I’d much rather see an expansion team in Charlotte or Raleigh, which I would cheer for but my team would still be the Braves.