Braves choose Sarasota for spring training

NORTH PORT — The Atlanta Braves are exclusively negotiating with Sarasota County to be the team's new spring training home, say team and county officials.

The new facilities would be in North Port in south Sarasota County, specifically within the West Villages master-planned community. Financing for the project, which would include a stadium, up to six practice fields and a clubhouse, would come from a combination of the Braves, Sarasota County, North Port and the West Villages. Sarasota County Director of Business and Economic Development Jeff Maultsby, in a press conference, says the county's portion of the funding, about $21 million, will come from tourist development taxes.

If both sides reach an agreement, the Braves will move their spring training operations from Central Florida to Sarasota County as soon as the 2019 spring season, Braves Chairman and CEO Terry McGuirk says in a statement. "This is the perfect location for our team and we couldn't be more excited to be part of Sarasota County and West Villages,” McGuirk says in a statement.