Energizing project

THE NOVELTY of The Battery Atlanta stems from the Braves’ control of the project.

Once The Battery opened in 2017, the Braves, who were always the master developers, bought out their two development partners. The team decides on tenants, protects their corporate partners (see related story, Page 24), takes the profit, and even determines what kind of banners are suitable for apartment tenants’ balconies.

“Eight years we tried to do something like this at Turner Field,” said Plant. “Thank God, we couldn’t pull it off.”

Control over the project, which began in earnest in 2013, contributed to the unusual speed with which the development came out of the ground. A streamlined decision-making process and a corporate parent in Liberty Media that gave the team relatively free rein, and a clear exit date for Turner Field — after the 2016 season — all contributed to the pace of the project.

“You’re on the clock,” said Schiller. “You’re building this, it has to be done by a certain date in 2017 in order to do what we promised our fan base, which is make a better experience.”

Speed was key because The Battery is one of the largest developments in sports overseen by a single team. With the clock ticking, the team built office towers before they had signed leases, a huge financial risk that later paid off when Fortune 500 companies Comcast, Papa John’s, and Thyssenkrupp decided to move regional or national headquarters into those buildings. There were 14 cranes on the construction site at one point, but not a single one the day of the first game, April 14, 2017. It was essentially a 10-year project completed in three years.

“We were energized because of this incredible opportunity that we were going to create,” said Plant, “but it was hard. I’d never do it again.”

While other sports venue-adjacent developments have struggled to profit financially, The Battery, six years in, is clearly boosting the Braves’ financial state. New revenue sources, such as tenant rent (from office, residential, retail, and event spaces), parking, and expanded sponsorship possibilities all boost the team’s bottom line. The latter has been key for the Braves, who saw corporate sponsorship revenue shoot up 89% during The Battery’s first year.

When baseball revenue nosedived 68% year-overyear in 2020 during the height of COVID, development revenue decreased only 5%. Three years later, as regional sports networks implode, the Braves’ traditional revenue sources, such as ticketing and concessions, have grown due to the millions of people visiting the development and stadium.

The development hosted 492 on-site events in 2022 (including 132 shows at the Coca-Cola Roxy theater and 95 games and events at Truist Park), which drew 10.1 million people. More than 3 million attended events at the stadium, the team’s highest annual attendance in 22 years. When the Braves won the World Series in 2021, 333,000 people were present for three home games. Only a third of those people were inside Truist Park.

Taxable property values at The Battery Atlanta have risen from $5 million in 2014 when the plaza was a wooded area, to $736 million last year, according to an economic impact report released by Cobb County. The Braves covered the county’s debt service in 2022, with $400,000 left over.

“Where does that money come from?” Plant asked somewhat triumphantly, spinning around in his conference room chair overlooking the stadium and The Battery, and pointing. “Right outside there.”