Atlanta Braves Go to Bat for TransformationAtlanta Braves Go to Bat for Transformation

The Atlanta Braves was the oldest continuously operated professional sports franchise in the US until last year. Now, it's also the landlord of a large-scale, mixed-use urban development. It accomplished the transformation using technology to drive change, according to Greg Gatti, Atlanta Braves VP of IT and CIO.

"We wanted to build a unique live-work-play environment," Gatti said in a presentation at the Cisco Live conference in Orlando, Fla., last week. Previously, the stadium was only used during the Braves' 81 games. "The rest of the time no one was there. No one came early, no one stayed late," he said. "We wanted to build a 365-day/year destination that the fans would want to come to all year round," Gatti said. "We wanted to be the premier, the most technologically advanced ballpark and development in the world."

The Braves isn't just a ball club anymore. It's now the operator of SunTrust Park and the Battery Atlanta complex. It's a developer, landlord and a digital marketing company, with a 41,500-seat park, a 1.5 million square foot mixed use development, a four-star hotel, office buildings, residential, retails and bars, as well as a 4,000-seat music venue.

Figure 1: SunTrust Park near third base, May 2017.