Atlanta Braves acquire new stadium funding after opponents not allowed to argue

The Atlanta Braves wanted a new stadium and after watching NFL owners and Olympic organizers alike fleece communities for the majority of the bill, they decided they wanted in on the action. Oh, and they didn’t want to hear any arguments against it.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that no opposition was voiced at a Cobb County Commissioner’s vote that ended 5-0 in favor of giving the Braves nearly $400M to build a new stadium. The team will pay $297M toward the project.

As Deadspin details, the deck was stacked against any Cobb County citizens who might have voted against this deal. The Commissioners only allowed 12 speakers before they voted and all 12 slots were taken up by pro-stadium speakers.

While plenty of people were opposed to the deal, it appears that they never had much of a chance to make an impact. The deal was apparently made in secret so that no one could get ahead of it and protest it. At this point, you can’t blame a citizen for showing up just to protest that.

Unfortunately, this latest incident is another in a long line of professional sports owners using their leverage with politicians (no one wants a sports team to leave town on their watch) to wheedle millions from tax coffers with the promise of ‘growth and revitalization’ via a big stadium that gets filled fifty days per year. Get used to it, folks. The more owners pull this stuff off, the more it will continue. Welcome to pro sports in 2014.