Braves have held Spring Training at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World Resort since '98GETTY IMAGES
The Braves will "keep their spring training based at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World Resort" for '19 instead of moving into their new $110M complex in the West Villages development in North Port, Fla., according to a front-page piece by Earle Kimel of the Sarasota HERALD-TRIBUNE. The Braves will "play the final game of that exhibition season" at their new Spring Training home. Sarasota County Administrator Jonathan Lewis said that this scenario was "always considered a possibility as the negotiations over the deal to relocate the Braves" to North Port "continued through much of last year." The announcement yesterday "appeared to be an acknowledgment that the construction schedule envisioned when ground was broken" on the new ballpark last October was "overly ambitious." Braves VP/Florida Operations Mike Dunn said, "Knowing how tight the schedule is, we thought it was in the best interest of everyone to have enough time to prepare" (Sarasota HERALD-TRIBUNE, 2/1). In Atlanta, Tim Tucker notes the price tag for the project "recently rose" from $100M to $110M, after "earlier rising" from a $75-80M estimate. The state of Florida, Sarasota County and North Port have committed about $45M in "taxpayer funds." A private developer will contribute $4.7M "plus land and infrastructure." The Braves are "responsible for the rest." The project "changed general contractors shortly before groundbreaking, slowing the process." The Braves have "trained at Disney" since '98. The North Port facility is "envisioned as a centerpiece of the planned 10,000-acre West Villages development" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 2/1).
