Deal: Mayor, Braves Discuss Team’s Departure

ATLANTA (AP) – Gov. Nathan Deal says Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed and Atlanta Braves representatives have met to discuss the next steps after the team announced it was leaving downtown to build a new $672 million stadium in nearby Cobb County.

Deal says Reed requested the brief meeting at the Capitol on Wednesday to discuss the transition. Deal says there is no state involvement in the deal and he is just happy that the Braves will be staying in Georgia.

Deal did say he was “sort of taken by surprise” by the news that the Braves would be leaving Turner Field and moving about 10 miles north of downtown.

Reed has said the city couldn’t compete with the financial assistance offered to the team by Cobb County officials.