- Lloyd Brown
Truist Park - Atlanta Braves
Photos by Lloyd Brown, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 3.71
Truist Park 755 Battery Way Atlanta, GA 30339
Year Opened: 2017
Capacity: 41,000
World Series Champions…in the Truist Sense!
The Atlanta Braves opened the 2022 season as the defending World Series Champions. This marked the first time in 41 years that the Braves had taken home the pennant. The team has recognized this accomplishment in several ways around Truist Park, its home since 2017. A red World Series pennant was added to a light tower in right field, joining the other pennants recognizing the Braves other postseason accomplishments. The 2021 World Series Championship Trophy has joined the 1995 trophy on display in Monument Garden. A new Championship Walk has been installed, with more than 4,000 engraved bricks purchased by fans. Proceeds from the purchase of these bricks benefitted the Braves Foundation. On the field the Braves wore the gold trimmed uniform and caps as the defending World Champions thru the opening homestand.
Food & Beverage 3
Truist Park offers a concessions menu that includes about every taste a fan might have. Some of the food concession booth names are the Taco Factory, The Sausage Haus, the Intentional Wok, and the Field of Greens. The ballpark basics include footlong hot dogs ($11), nachos ($3.95), burgers ($13.95), chicken tenders ($13.95), pizza ($10), popcorn ($3.50), Cracker Jack ($6.25), peanuts ($6.25), fries ($6.75) and pretzels are $3.50. The King of Pops popsicle cart provides a unique array of popsicle flavors for $6. Child-sized servings of these items are found in the Children’s Healthcare Hope and Will Sandlot Midway area above left and center field.
Drink options include water ($3.95) and Coca-Cola brand sodas ($5.95). Adult beverages include 16 oz. cans of Miller, Blue Moon, Leinenkugel’s and Sol brand products. Costs are $8.75 for domestic beers and $11 for premium brands. You might also want to check out the Terrapin Brewing microbrewery in right field. They offer the Chopsecutioner light IPA. It is a craft beer that uses baseball bat chips to heat the beer during the brewing process. This gives the beer a distinctive hickory flavor.
Truist Park also serves some specialty menu items that are unique. The most unique is the World Champion Burger, which is a ½ pound Wagyu beef burger with cheese, gold leaf wrapped foie gras and grilled lobster tail. It costs a “very reasonable” $151! Other specialty items include the Golden Glove Chicken Sandwich, the Blackened Shrimp Taco, the Hoots Wing, the Big RiBi Sandwich, the Knucksie Sandwich and the Funnel Cake Fry Sundae.
Seated dining includes the Coors Light Chop House atop the right field wall and the Terrapin Taproom/Fox Brothers BBQ along the right field concourse.
The Braves have increased the ability to use mobile ordering of concession items through the Braves app. At first fans will pick up their orders at a designated location near their seats and away from the walk-up order stands. This will reduce the long lines at the stands that have plagued the concourses in the past. By mid-season, the Braves plan to have a delivery to your seat option available.
Many fans gravitate to the eat/drink rails that encircle the concourse to watch the games. This allows them to meet up with friends who may be sitting in another location in the stadium.
Atmosphere 4
Truist Park provides a great atmosphere for fans to enjoy the action both on and off the field. Fans often arrive early to check out the activities that are available along the concourse. Fans with children can head to the Children’s Healthcare Hope and Will Sandlot to enjoy the carnival-like midway filled with games and rides guaranteed to entertain the young ones for hours. The older generation can check out Monument Garden. This area covers the Braves’ history from their Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta years and is filled with trophies/bats and gloves used by Braves superstars over the years. Many fans gravitate to this area to have their photos taken with the Hank Aaron statue that is the centerpiece of the Garden.
Once in your seats, fans are entertained by the stadium organist, who is known for his witty choices for music when the opposing team is at bat. Another in-game piece of entertainment is the Home Depot characters race. The Atlanta-based retailer provides a racing paint brush,
Neighborhood 5
The neighborhood adjoining Truist Park is known as The Battery. This is a live/work/play/stay complex developed by the Braves, which provides fans with a location to enjoy a pre or post game meal, drink, or a place to meetup with their friends. This is an option that was not available at the Braves former home at Turner Field. As the developer of The Battery, the Braves also receive payments from the tenants, which allows the team to pursue free agents and sign their top players to long term contracts.
Amongst the restaurants in the Battery are Antico Pizza, El Super Pan, Punch Bowl Social, the Mac McGee Pub, Yard House, Wahlburgers, H& F Burger and Fox Brothers BBQ. Bars in the complex include the Terrapin Taproom, Fat Tuesday, PBR Atlanta and the ASW Distillery. The Battery even has a concert venue, the Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre. Two hotels are in the Battery. The Omni Hotel is adjacent to Truist Park, and if your room is on one of the upper floors, you can look down into the park and take in a game for free! The second hotel is an Aloft branded hotel.
Detailed information on The Battery can be found at www.batteryatl.com
Fans 4
The Braves have one of the most geographically diverse fanbases in the MLB. Part of this is due to the fact that they were the first major league franchise in the South. The other reason for this diversity is that many people became Braves fans early on due to the reach of former Braves owner Ted Turner’s Superstation into even the most remote areas of the country. Fans in Alaska to the Great Plains could receive the signal and fell in love with the team.
Braves fans showed their support for the team in a major way last fall (2021), with thousands showing up for the away games in the playoffs to watch the games on the big screen set up in The Battery, just outside of the Truist Park gates. More than 1 million fans also showed up for two parades celebrating the World Series win, with one in downtown Atlanta and a second parade at The Battery/Truist Park.
This enthusiasm has carried over to 2022, as the club level of the stadium is sold out for the entire season. The Braves fans continue to do the Tomahawk Chop during rallies and important situations during the games. This is done as a show of support for the team, which works closely with the Cherokee Nation to improve the quality of life for tribe members.
Access 3
Atlanta is known for its traffic congestion, so the Braves worked long and hard on this issue when deciding on a site for the new stadium. Truist Park’s location was chosen due to its ability to be accessed via several different routes. It lies at the I-285 (Atlanta’s ring road) and I-75 interchange on the northwest side of Atlanta. Fans can use I-75 if they are coming from areas north or south of the city, while I-285 provides access from the east or west. There are also several major secondary traffic arteries serving the area around Truist Park. Fans can use the WAZE app to get up to the minute travel info on delays/wrecks/best route to take on game days.
One unforeseen phenomenon at Truist Park is the effect The Battery has had on traffic. Having something for fans to do before and after the games has helped to reduce congestion, as it has spread out the times people arrive and depart the stadium area.
Another well thought out piece of the stadium planning was to decentralize the parking around the stadium. Instead of constructing a massive parking infrastructure, the Braves have partnered with existing office parks that are near the stadium to use their parking lots after business hours. These businesses would receive a percentage of the parking fee in this agreement. This allowed the Braves to have lots in a 360-degree circle around Truist Park, so that fans would not overlap on the roadways before and after the games.
Once at the park, entry is through one of five major gates encircling the stadium. The Battery has the largest number of lines at its gates, as it tends to get the most pre- and post-game traffic. Inside the park, signage is very clear in directing fans to their seats. Access to the upper-level seats is via gently sloped ramps or via the numerous elevators found along the concourse.
Return on Investment 3
A day or night out at a Braves game can prove to be expensive. Tickets run from $15-$125 apiece. Parking costs between $10-$25, depending on what lot you are parking in. The concessions costs are typical for the MLB (meaning expensive). Throw in dinner or a few drinks out in one of the Battery restaurants or bars and you are talking about some major league money. All transactions at Truist Park are cashless.
Extras 4
Pregame activities take place outside the park on the Battery Plaza. Typically, this includes performances by the Braves Heavy Hitter Drumline and the Braves Dance Team and autograph signings by former Braves players.
The Xfinity Rooftop is located at the highest point in the stadium. It is designed to be a social gathering place and comes with a ping pong table and foosball table, sofas, and a bar serving drinks out of an Airstream trailer. The Rooftop also provides one-of-a-kind view of the game action below.
A fireworks show is held after every Friday night game.
Statues of Phil Niekro, Bobby Cox and Warren Spahn are found outside the stadium.
Final Thoughts
A visit to Truist Park and the Battery provides a daylong set of options for baseball fans. Arrive early or stay late and enjoy a wide range of dining and entertainment options. In between, you can enjoy some great baseball featuring the defending World Champion Atlanta Braves. Chop on!