Braves deal hinges on now questioned state incentives

NORTH PORT - The Atlanta Braves' plan to relocate to North Port could come in just under the wire this year, as some state legislators, critical of using taxpayers' money to subsidize wealthy professional sports teams and other businesses, seek to dismantle state economic development incentive programs.

The planned $75 to $80 million spring training complex in the West Villages area near U.S. 41 and River Road hinges on a series of public funding commitments, including a $20 million state grant designed to help retain Major League Baseball teams' spring training facilities in Florida.

But the team's formal announcement last week that it would relocate from Orlando to south Sarasota County follows several months of debate among state leaders over the issue, prompted by members of the Florida House and particularly Speaker Richard Corcoran, criticizing state incentives as "corporate welfare" and proposing bills to gut many of those programs.

No specific proposal has been made to end the spring training stadium grants, so local officials and leaders of the Florida Sports Foundation, which will review the application for the Braves, are proceeding as normal, they said. But they are also cautiously watching the House for clues about the program's future.

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