Gwinnett Braves to build home near Mall of Georgia

DULUTH -- The daunting trip from Triple-A to the majors will soon be about 36 miles for prospects of the Atlanta Braves.

Gwinnett County approved a plan Tuesday to build a new stadium in the booming Atlanta suburbs, allowing the Braves to move their International League team in Richmond, Va., closer to home for the 2009 season.

The Gwinnett Braves will play just up I-85 from the big league club. If this area's notorious traffic isn't too bad, it will be about a 45-minute drive from the county's new stadium, which will be located near the Mall of Georgia, to downtown Turner Field.

``What started as a dream has become a team,'' said county commissioner Bert Nasuti, who led the effort to bring minor league baseball to Gwinnett.

Richmond has been the home of Atlanta's Triple-A team since the franchise moved from Milwaukee in 1966. But the Braves failed in negotiations to get a new stadium to replace The Diamond, a 22-year-old facility that was in need of major upgrades.

The R-Braves will spend one final season in Virginia before moving to Gwinnett.

The county plans to work with the Braves to build a $45 million stadium that will have about 7,000 permanent seats, with a grass berm in the outfield accommodating another 3,000 fans.

The Gwinnett Board of Commissioners approved a financing plan that will include $12 million from the county's recreation fund. The remaining $33 million will come from a bond issue, to be covered by revenues from the stadium.

While the county will technically own the stadium and has plans to develop the area around it, the Braves will operate the facility under a 30-year lease, overseeing everything from ticket sales to concessions.

The R-Braves' move to Gwinnett follows a trend of big league clubs putting minor league affiliates within their own markets. The success of teams such as the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders (a Texas farm club in suburban Dallas) and Class A Brooklyn Cyclones (an affiliate of the New York Mets) persuaded Atlanta to move its Triple-A team.

``It's going to be a funnel for our fans, the same way it's a funnel for our players,'' said Derek Schiller, the Braves' vice president of sales and marketing. ``There are fans who will potentially be exposed to baseball for the first time at the minor league level, then they'll come to Turner Field and be exposed to major league baseball.''

The Braves have been in talks for years with Richmond officials over building a new stadium to replace The Diamond, a 12,134-seat stadium considered economically inferior to newer Triple-A stadiums.

While those talks stalled over several potential sites, the deal with Gwinnett took only a couple of months to finalize.

``It's painful we are leaving a city such as Richmond that has been so supportive over the years,'' said International League president Randy Mobley. ``But the Braves have been very patient through the whole process.''

The contract to play at The Diamond ran through the 2010 season but included an option to pull out each year if notice was given by Oct. 1. The Braves finalized their plans well ahead of that deadline.

Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder released a statement accusing the Braves of not negotiating in good faith. He claimed the city had been approached by another organization as recently as two months ago, but was committed to a new stadium for Atlanta's Triple-A team.

Since word of the R-Braves moving to Gwinnett, Wilder said he's gotten calls from at least two other organizations.

``There will be a baseball team in Richmond,'' the mayor vowed.

While Richmond will step up efforts to build a new stadium and lure another minor-league team, Mobley said the city probably will have to settle for a lower-level league.

Mobley is convinced Triple-A baseball will be success in the Atlanta area, without affecting the big league team's attendance.

``We feel like the two products are a little bit different,'' he said. ``You're talking about a situation (in the minors) where professional baseball players are so very accessible. It's a different experience.''

The announcement was made at The Arena at Gwinnett Center, an 11,500-seat coliseum that helped bring pro sports to the sprawling county of more than 750,000 residents.

The Gwinnett Gladiators are a minor-league hockey team affiliated with the Atlanta Thrashers, while the Georgia Force of the Arena Football League are moving back to the suburbs after playing the last two seasons at Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta.

Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur grew up in Gwinnett and lives right down the road from the arena.

While he was skeptical of talks to bring an independent league team to Gwinnett, he feels a Braves affiliate will be a big success.

``I've got to call my agent and see if I can play 20 to 25 games a year up here so I don't have to drive all the way down to'' Turner Field, Francoeur quipped.

On the Web:

Gwinnett Braves: www.gwinnettbraves.com