The Braves every year “try to improve the fan experience, and once again they’re aiming at appetites,” as two new Atlanta restaurants are “bringing their fare to Turner Field,” according to Carroll Rogers of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. Chef Linton Hopkins Holeman & Finch Public House burgers will be “available in the Fan plaza beyond center field.” The Braves also are “selling 24 tickets to each game for an outfield seat near the H&F Burger stand and a fast pass to get to the front of the line." The cost "is $32.” Dantanna’s restaurant “will serve their crab-cake sandwiches and sesame-steak skewers at a grill cart on the Terrace Level.” The Braves have “broadened their merchandising” for ‘13 as well, introducing a shop “where fans can customize everything from T-shirts to iPhone cases.” The team also is “selling Wilson and Rawlings leather gloves.” Additionally, the Braves are "improving the in-park Wi-Fi, adding a tablet tour to the Braves Museum and Hall of Fame, and offering an app for iPhone and Android users that features video highlights, Braves radio broadcasts, seating chart information, ticket upgrades and more” (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 3/30).
CAPTIVE AUDIENCE: In Atlanta, Gary McKillips writes Braves sponsors are “revved up as the result of a new TV deal” that puts all Braves games on RSNs FS South and SportSouth. Although Fox would “not release specific figures,” SportSouth Senior VP & GM Jeff Genthner said, “Ad sales are up over 40 percent compared to the same time last year and the cultivation of new clients represents over 8 percent of the Braves contracted revenue.” He said that the 8% is “considered a ‘sizable’ increase and noted Georgia-based companies YellaWood and Moe’s Southwest Grill are among the new advertisers.” Genthner added that Home Depot, Delta Air Lines and SunTrust “continue to be big investors in the Braves.” Braves telecasts on FS South and SportSouth in ‘12 “ranked first and second in prime-time cable in their time period and trounced (nearly 2-to-1) their nearest cable competitors” (ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE, 3/29 issue).
