• JEFF SCHAPIRO COLUMN: Braves, Redskins and Wilder

Losing the Richmond Braves is going to cost more than can be counted by the dollars and cents spent by fans on tickets, hot dogs and pennants.

A baseball-less Richmond also means a financial drain for local fundraising, a loss of about 400 seasonal jobs and question marks over the future of an area the city still sees as the place for a new ballpark.

While marketing experts say the loss of a minor-league baseball team wouldn't hurt Richmond, youth leagues and other organizations in need of money have a different view.

Stephen Melton, president of Chesterfield County's Huguenot Little League, said his group raised about $20,000 by reselling tickets for the Braves in 2006.

And Henrico County's Hermitage High School Band Boosters will see 75 percent of its annual budget gone if concession stands at The Diamond shut down.

"I don't know what we'll do to make money now," said Mary Davis, president of the Hermitage booster club. "This was our major fundraiser."

The Atlanta Braves announced Tuesday that they would move the Richmond franchise, which the major-league team owns, to the Atlanta suburb of Gwinnett County, saying they had waited too long for a ballpark proposal promised by Mayor L. Douglas Wilder. That came days after the city unveiled a consultant's plan to redevelop the Boulevard area and replace the deteriorating Diamond with a new park. The Richmond Braves are expected to move after this season.

Assessing the team's overall economic impact on the region is difficult, officials say.

Hill Carrow, chief executive officer of Sports & Properties Inc. in Raleigh, N.C., said a market study in Charlotte, N.C., could give an idea of what a team is worth. That study, created as part of plan to build a new stadium in downtown Charlotte, estimated the team would generate about $20 million in direct spending in 2010, he said.

Roughly 365,000 people a year come to Braves games, about 65,000 of them on tickets that charities buy and resell for fundraising.

The Braves keep their finances private, but the city's admission tax collections show the team sells about $1.5 million a season in tickets. In years past, sales of food and other concessions have run slightly above ticket revenue.

Richmond hopes to attract another minor-league team to the neighborhood, though it would likely be in the lower classification of Double-A or Single-A. But if the region goes without baseball for a season or more, some of the immediate ripple effects may be felt by groups that use the baseball season to raise money.

Davis said losing concession-stand money will affect the Hermitage band's ability to travel to competitions and even repair its instruments. The boosters have operated concession stands at the stadium for the past 10 years.

She declined to say how much the organization has raised, but she described it as considerable. The boosters staff one of the concession stands operated by Aramark Sports and Entertainment Services for a portion of the proceeds. The club will meet Feb. 1 and discuss what to do after the team leaves, Davis said.

Other organizations benefit from selling Braves tickets. The ballclub says that over the past three years the team has helped raise over $585,000 for charities and nonprofit organizations in the Richmond area. The team allowed groups to buy and resell single-game tickets and keep the profits. The tickets were purchased for $3 and resold at no more than $6. Over that period, the team sold about 148,000 tickets.

Braves General Manager Bruce Baldwin said the team also made more than $150,000 in "soft donations," which includes donating tickets or merchandise for charity auctions.

Melton, who said the Huguenot league depends on fundraising to improve fields and for basic operational costs, said the money from Braves ticket sales added up to nearly 15 percent of its annual budget. His group didn't need to raise as much money last year, but it still took in about $5,000 by working with the Braves.

As for future fundraising, "it's not something we've worked out yet," Melton said. "But we're always looking for new revenue streams anyway."

Charles Collie, marketing director of the Atlee Little League, said the group sold about $20,000 worth of tickets in 2007. Of that, more than $7,000 stayed in league coffers and went toward starting a Challenger Program for disabled baseball players. Atlee will try and make up for the loss by selling sponsorships, raffles and advertising on ball fields and its Web site.

The seasonal impact of a baseball team extends beyond the players, concessionaires and volunteers, too. The Diamond, for example, is a source of employment for about 400 seasonal workers, including people who work as ticket-takers, security guards, ushers and parking attendants.

And while the team routinely spends more than three dozen nights a year out of town on road tips, Richmond hotels and restaurants make money when other International League teams come to town to play the Braves.

Wilder's office said last week that although it is moving ahead with the request-for-proposals for redevelopment in the North Boulevard area, the city wants to sit down soon and talk with officials from Henrico and Chesterfield, Richmond's RMA partners.

In addition, Rachel O. Flynn, the city's community development director, said the Braves' announcement also offers the chance to look at the area with fresh eyes.

"This presents a whole new opportunity because when you think about the space an athletic complex occupies, it presents a challenge," she said. "Maybe this is actually a blessing in disguise because we can take the time to plan it right, build it right, because we are not in a hurry."
Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or LLlovio@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writers Kiran Krishnamurthy and David Ress contributed to this report.