Loserville

"Clayton Trutor examines how Atlanta's pursuit of the big leagues invented business-as-usual in the business of professional sports"-- "In July 1975 the editors of the Atlanta Constitution ran a two-part series entitled "Loserville, U.S.A." The provocatively titled series detailed the futility of Atlanta's four professional sports teams in the decade since the 1966 arrival of its first two major league franchises, Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves and the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons. Two years later, the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association became the city's third major professional sports franchise. In 1972 the National Hockey League granted Atlanta the Flames expansion franchise, making Atlanta the first southern city with teams in all four of the big leagues. The excitement surrounding the arrival of four professional franchises in Atlanta in a six-year period soon gave way to widespread frustration and, eventually, widespread apathy toward its home teams. All four of Atlanta's franchises struggled in the standings and struggled to draw fans to their games. Atlantans' indifference to their new teams took place amid the social and political fracturing with a new Black majority in Atlanta and the white exodus to the outer suburbs, and sports could never quite bridge the divergence between the communities.Loserville examines the pursuit, arrival, and response to professional sports in Atlanta during its first decade as a major league city (1966-1975). It scrutinizes the origins of what remains the primary model for acquiring professional sports franchises-offers of municipal financing for new stadiums. Other Sunbelt cities like San Diego, Phoenix, and Tampa that aspired to big league stature adopted Atlanta's approach. Like the teams in Atlanta, the franchises in these cities have had mixed results-both in terms of on-field success and financial stability. "--