Good morning. This is Leadoff, the early buzz in Atlanta sports.
The Falcons' sales of personal seat licenses for their new stadium have rallied along with the team's on-field performance, rising from less than 33,000 at the start of this season to more than 41,000 now.
The latest total: 41,102 seat licenses sold as of late last week, according to Michael Drake, the Falcons’ senior vice president and chief revenue officer.
That’s up from 37,455 PSLs sold through Nov. 30, which was the cutoff point for the team’s most recent official sales report to the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. At that point, the sales totaled $190.8 million in contracted revenue.
Even at 41,102 PSLs sold, the Falcons have about 20,000 more seats — not including those in suites, sponsor packages and other exclusions — to sell in Mercedes-Benz Stadium before the start of the 2017 season.
Experts say a Super Bowl berth, which the Falcons will claim if they beat Green Bay on Sunday in the Georgia Dome, likely would give sales a big boost.
For more on the PSL sales and the impact of a Super Bowl run, click here.
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After a two-year search, the Braves may have found their new spring-training home.
Officials in Sarasota County, Fla., announced Tuesday that the Braves have entered into exclusive negotiations to build a facility in the southwest Florida city of North Port.
If terms are agreed upon and approved — taxpayer money will be involved — the Braves will move their spring base from Disney World to Sarasota County as soon as 2019.
“Hopefully this thing goes forward, the county commissioners vote on it, and off we go,” Braves Vice Chairman John Schuerholz said.
There is much left to be done before a deal is finalized, as both the Braves and Sarasota County pointed out Tuesday, but Schuerholz described himself as “optimistic.”
Click herefor full story.
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The Falcons are the fresher and healthier team going into Sunday's NFC championship game.
Click here for Michael Cunningham's report from Flowery Branch.
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Georgia Tech's basketball team is far exceeding expectations this season.
Click here for Ken Sugiura's five reasons why.
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