As Atlanta Braves fans continue to celebrate their National League Championship over the reigning champion Dodgers on Saturday, anticipation is at an all-time high for the World Series. With Saturday's win, the Braves secured their place in Major League Baseball's final—and most important—matchup of the 2021 season. The Braves will play the Houston Astros for MLB's most coveted prize: the Commissioner's Trophy.

With more than 40,000 seats, the Braves' new home is just inside the eastern border of Cobb County. Situated north of Atlanta and just outside the Perimeter, Truist Park is a sight to behold. The surrounding area, known as The Battery, is home to many shops, restaurants, and living areas. The Omni Hotel overlooks the field, as well as many office buildings, including Papa John's Pizza corporate headquarters.

With the World Series beginning in Houston on Tuesday, the buzz in the Atlanta area is hard to miss. The Braves' most recent World Series appearance was in the last century, in 1999, when they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Four years before that, they won the World Series in six games over the Cleveland Indians. Needless to say, Atlanta fans are hungry for a championship beyond the National League.

Cobb County will also win big due to the Braves' success on the diamond. Ticket prices for the World Series games are going ever-higher due to increasing demand. Truist Park is paying off in ways that even Cobb County planners didn't expect just three years ago. 

During the NLCS, many Dodger fans were staying, eating, and shopping in the Cobb area. The money they spent in support of their team added tax dollars to Cobb's economy, including Ed-SPLOST. This means that dollars spent in and around Truist will benefit the entire county because Ed-SPLOST dollars are spread out county-wide, regardless of where they were collected.

Now, with worldwide attention focused on pro baseball's most celebrated stage, Cobb County residents will once again benefit from outside money being spent locally, this time thanks to Astros fans. Every drink, snack, and souvenir purchased by every baseball fan at Truist will help fund education in Cobb County.

Those 40,000+ fans won't just be spending money at the park; they will also purchase many other items locally, like meals and gas, that help fund local businesses and services. The economic impact from the 2021 Braves will be felt long after the Commissioner's Trophy is presented to the team. 

The NLCS and the World Series are high-profile events that bring notice to Cobb County, but they also bring dollars and help to stimulate and prosper our local economy. While most don't often think of the economic impact of sports at the local level, they are incredibly significant. While we cheer for our home team to end Atlanta's 26-year World Series win drought, we can also cheer that our local schools are being helped by dollars from Houston fans.

Go Braves!