A news release was posted on the Cobb County website announcing that a meeting was held between Cobb County officials and Atlanta Braves executives to discuss the “‘lessons learned’ following the team’s World Series games, victory, and subsequent celebrations.”
According to the news release, the topics of the meeting included crowd control, traffic management, communications infrastructure, and event logistics.
The news release continued:
County Manager Dr. Jackie McMorris praised hard work from her staff as well as the Braves to make sure the entire post-season experience went safely at Truist Park and the Battery Atlanta despite the larger-than-expected crowds. Mike Plant, the President of Braves Development, said the team’s first-ever World Series run at Truist Park and future meetings with county leaders will form a blueprint for handling what they hope will be regular post-season appearances.
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The costs to the county ran over the original $350,000 authorized earlier this year by $105,000, which the county is expected to cover.
According to the news release the upcoming economic report is expected to show “a benefit many times the public safety costs of hosting the event.”
Background
The National League champion Atlanta Braves and the American League champion Houston Astros faced each other in the 2021 World Series. Atlanta won the series 4 games to 2.
Three of the games were hosted at Truist Park [an earlier version of this stated that the final game was held at Truist Park, which was incorrect. Thanks to the eagle-eyed reader who pointed out my error — LFJ] in Cobb County, while three of the games were held in Houston.
In a unanimous 5-0 vote at their October 26, 2021 meeting, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners approved the use of up to $350,000 from the county fund balance for emergency expenditures relate to the games.
At that meeting, county Finance Director William Volckman said funds would be used for police, fire, Sheriff’s Office, and information services related to the event. He said the majority of the funds were expected to be used for overtime for public safety staff.
It was later determined that the emergency funds allocated fell $105,000 short of the actual expenses.
