Why the Atlanta Braves’ latest ticket policy is a bigger deal than it seems

The Atlanta Braves making a change to their ticket policy is a bigger deal than you would think.

For the first time in team history, the Atlanta Braves are making wholesale changes to their ticket policy.

Atlanta is planning to cut off season ticket sales before Opening Day. This would move the cut-off date to March 17. While the Braves have had no issues packing Truist Park and the surrounding Battery during their current reign atop the NL East, this strategic move is all about freeing up more opportunities for fans who want to check out a game or two, as opposed to ride or die for all 81.

Team president Derek Schiller offer the following statement about the Braves’ big decision here.

“We are now focused on ensuring that more of our fans who only come to one or two games are able to buy seats.”

Some Braves Country diehards may hate this move to no end, but here is why they are so wrong.

Atlanta Braves make drastic change to season-ticket sales policies for the better

By explicitly stating the season-ticket cut-off deadline, it will still afford the diehards out there ample time to get their stuff together and cough up quite the hunk of change. While this may have an adverse effect on potential postseason tickets, season-ticket holders, or those near enough to it, are going to find a way to get to The Battery to watch the Braves play ball anyway. No big thing.

As for why this is so incredibly positive, let’s chew on this for a minute. You have to remember the Braves are the southeast’s team, with legions far beyond that because of the Superstation days on TBS. This is not a local team, but a regional one and honestly, a national one. Going with the cut-off date affords those who live well outside the perimeter opportunities to come for a visit.

For example, if you live in Birmingham, Charlotte, Jacksonville or Nashville, you may only get one weekend where you can watch the Braves play during the summer. Allowing more tickets to be available of the single-game variety can help create lasting memories for friends and families everywhere. Given that Atlanta is very transient, this helps make our new residents feel welcome.

So if you want to go on a date with someone cool or introduce your son or daughter to the wonder game of baseball, this change is a little more in line with that. See, moving from Atlanta to Cumberland was always going to be a long-term play for the Braves. It is about creating an event for every home game, one where fans will travel from all over because there is nothing else like it.

On the other side of the coin, the other massively popular sports brand in the state is Georgia football. The Dawgs are in the midst of an incredible run in their program’s history. Although they are very easy to watch on TV, and Athens is without question the best college town in America (argue with a wall), it can be pulling teeth to catch a game Between the Hedges on fall Saturdays.

Yes, you can get tickets to Sanford Stadium, but they almost always have to be of the season ticket variety. Your donations to the university determine what seats you get. If there are single-games available, it is usually vs. Panera Broad or Directional State, almost never vs. an SEC rival like Auburn or Tennessee. Simply put, you can go to Athens but getting inside the gate is brutal.

Ultimately, Liberty Media wants The Battery to be packed out the wazoo as much as it can be, all times of the year, in fact. However, if Braves fans can’t get in the gate, then the Battery will be at or above capacity, making a difficult environment for people to navigate. You cannot walk around town as freely as you can in Athens. The Cumberland Area of Cobb County is very commercialized.

If one single-game ticket experience creates a fan for a lifetime, then this move is totally worth it.