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| Atlanta Braves Spring Training | Area Info - North Port |
| Stadium | Location | Parking | Seating | Schedule | Hotels | Restaurants |
CoolToday ParkSpring Training home of the Braves since 2019 Ballpark address: Opened: 2019 |
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The Braves' spring training facility is in the master-planned West Villages community, which is in the very southern limits of Sarasota County. The ballpark has a Venice address but is actually within the city limits of North Port, which annexed the land but wasn't granted a new zip code for it, thus ensuring (for now) that CoolToday Park has an address in Venice even though it was built in North Port.
Directions
From I-75 take exit 191 (River Rd). Go south on River Road for 3.9 miles then turn right onto West Villages Parkway. After 0.9 miles cross over Tamiami Trail (Hwy 41) to continue on West Villages Pky for another mile and the ballpark will be on the left.
Parking
Lots are exclusively on the first base side of the stadium. A paved lot is adjacent to the stadium and grass field parking begins beyond it.
Cost: $10
Stadium Information
After 22 seasons the Braves left America's playground for a live, work and play development that was dreamed up 136 miles southwest of Disney, where $140 million transformed a former brushfield within the "West Villages" community into a spring training destination the Braves can call home for at least 30 years, which is the length of their lease for the 90-acre baseball complex. The centerpiece structure within the complex has an attractive, team-themed exterior, as CoolToday Park sports a red, white and blue facade accented by large murals of former star players, while the plaza that fronts the place is noticeably dotted with the 11 numbers retired by the Braves. The interior of the venue contains all the amenities needed to make it state-of-the-art, while a provider of a very needed necessity in Florida is responsible for the ballpark's name, as Sarasota-based air conditioning company CoolToday paid to put their brand on the Braves' winter home, which hosted just a single spring training game in its debut year (2019), for its first 20 years.
Fast Facts
Types of Seating
There are 6,200 fixed seats, which have chair backs and armrests. Lawn seating is in left field, and a ticketed drink rail section is found on each side of the berm.
Notes about the seating
Sections and rows
1 to 14 in sections 101-106; 5 to 14 in sections 107-109; 4 to 14 in section 110; A then 1 to 14 in sections 111-113; 4 to 14 in section 114; 5 to 14 in sections 115-117; 1 to 14 in sections 118-121
1 to 6 in section 201; 1 to 5 in sections 202-206; 1 to 6 in section 207
1 to 9 in section 122 (Left Field Lounge); 1 to 4 in section 123 (Budweiser Bench)
1 to 10 in section 124 (SunTrust Pavilion)
Seats to avoid
You'll find good sightlines throughout, so there's no sections to avoid based on bad views or obstructions. However, section 124 is pretty far away. Furthermore, it's elevated above the concourse, making it pretty high up. So keep section 124 in mind if you want to avoid outfield-based seating that can feel distant. And note that section 124 is unreserved general admission seating, so you're only guaranteed a seat but not a particular one in what's also sold as SunTrust Pavilion or Bleacher (even though all seats are of the modern stadium-style variety).
Seats in the shade
The first base side of the stadium gets more shade, while eight "Baseline" sections are always sun-soaked. In the upper (Terrace) level there are 614 seats and all of them are shielded from the sun. Those with general admission tickets for the right-center field-based (and mostly sunny) SunTrust Pavilion, which is also listed as section 124, need to arrive early to secure a seat in its sun-free top two rows (9 & 10), which are shaded thanks to the cantilevered roof above them.
To be as specific as possible, here's which seats should be shaded for the duration of a day game:
Section 106: Rows 5-14
Sections 107-110: All rows
Section 111: Rows 4-14
Section 112: Rows 6-14
Sections 113-115: Rows 10-14
Sections 116-118: Rows 9-14
Section 124: Rows 9-10
Sections 201-207: All rows
Conversely, all of sections 101-105 and 119-121 are always in the sun and thus have no shaded seats in them.
But if it's all-game shade you seek, seek out seats in sections 107-110 and 201-207, as those 11 sections are completely shaded. Then note the rows listed above for sections 106 and 111-118, where all-game shade can be found where cited.
VIP seating
Two traditional suites, one on each side of the press box, are found on the upper level. However, they aren't publicly available and thus rentable. The three concourse-level suites behind home plate are local business-controlled. Those semi-private and open-air suites are prominently placed on the main concourse, directly behind the last row of seats in sections 111-113. The one suite that can be rented is a big field-level one and it's specifically found in right field, where there are seats for 90 people within the 4,400-square-foot space, dubbed the Centauri Insurance Field Suite, from which the game is watched through the right field fence, making the large group area a copycat of the Below the Chop spot found at Atlanta's Truist Park, since both offer a novel ground level view from just beyond the warning track. Out in the open group spaces containing drink rail seating are found down the left field line (9 rows in the Left Field Lounge) and in left-center field (4 levels in the Budweiser Bench, which is based beneath the scoreboard). A total of 49 semi-circular tables, each with four chairs, are situated along the concourse, spanning from the left field line to right field, where 13 of the tables are found adjacent to the foul pole on the Right Field Patio. The upper level has seven sections of Terrace seating, with perks for those ticketholders being access to a pair of air-conditioned lounges and open-air patios. You must have a Terrace ticket to get into the stadium's upper level.
Game Day
Gates open 2 hours before game time.
Food, drink, bag and other stadium policies
Unique ballpark fare
There are seven specialty concession stand brands scattered throughout the stadium, although the upper deck is where two of them are found. Those that are accessible to all fans along the lower level concourse are Dawgs N Burgers, Fish Camp, Salsa Supreme, Sausage Shack and The Chicken Coop. The restricted access pair on the Terrace level are the Braves Smokehouse BBQ and Greenfields, which is the vegetarian-friendly outpost in the joint with a menu featuring a veggie hummus wrap and "build your own salad" entrée. Creative cuisine choices found elsewhere include the bologna sandwich (Smokehouse BBQ), sweet Georgia smoked chicken sandwich (The Chicken Coop), shrimp tackle box with hushpuppies (Fish Camp), and kitchen sink nachos (Salsa Supreme). Realistically, day drinkers have it better than foodies here thanks to a bevy of bar beverage options found most prominently at two locations on the stadium's third base side, where the Craft Beer Bar (behind section 115) offers up a dozen drafts, with many of them local IPAs, while the popular Tomahawk Tiki Bar (well back of section 122) sells mixed drinks and beer in a festive environment. All soft drinks sold on-site are choices provided by Atlanta's very own Coca-Cola Company.
2024 Braves Spring Training Schedule(only home games at CoolToday Park are listed) |
| February/March | ||||||
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 25 Red Sox 1:05 Tickets |
26 Orioles 1:05 Tickets |
27 | 28 | 29 Twins 1:05 Tickets |
1 Orioles 1:05 Tickets |
2 |
| 3 Phillies 1:05 Tickets |
4 | 5 Tigers 1:05 Tickets |
6 | 7 | 8 Pirates 1:05 Tickets |
9 Orioles 1:05 Tickets |
| 10 | 11 Twins 1:05 Tickets |
12 | 13 | 14 Rays 1:05 Tickets |
15 | 16 Pirates 6:05 Tickets |
| 17 Red Sox 1:05 Tickets |
18 | 19 | 20 Blue Jays 1:05 Tickets |
21 Yankees 1:05 Tickets |
22 | 23 Rays 1:05 Tickets |
| 24 | 25 Twins 1:05 Tickets |
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* Single game tickets went on sale Saturday, November 18. Links in calendar are to TicketNetwork inventory.
See the full 2024 Braves Spring Training schedule
Ballpark Area Info
CoolToday Park is within the West Villages, an approximately 15,000 acre development that will take a couple more decades to reach buildout, which will include over 20,000 homes and some three million square feet of commercial space spread across the multiple neighborhoods in the master-planned community. Simply farmland prior to 2014, West Villages is located between the city centers of North Port and Venice and the Braves' spring training complex was its first major non-residential project completed upon opening in 2019. The community's first retail center, the Publix grocery store-anchored Marketplace, opened later that same year and is a mere mile from the Braves' ballpark. Also about a mile away is the one place that's been in the area for years, as the State College of Florida's 100-acre Venice campus (est. 1985) is set off in the woods between CoolToday Park and the Marketplace. The ballpark, shopping center and college are all a very short distance from the region's major highway, US 41 (Tamiami Trail), which connects Tampa to Miami by going through every sizable city, North Port and Venice included, along the way.
Travelers' notes
 Hotels close to CoolToday Park |
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| Distance | Hotel | Street Address | City/Zip | Phone |
| 6.5 miles | Americas Best Value Inn | 14000 Tamiami Trl | North Port, FL 34287 | 941-426-4602 |
| 8.6 | Fairfield Inn | 2935 Executive Dr | Venice, FL 34292 | 941-488-4343 |
| 9.9 | Ramada | 425 US 41 Bypass N | Venice, FL 34285 | 941-315-8474 |
| 10.5 | Motel 6 | 2540 S McCall Rd | Englewood, FL 34224 | 941-474-5544 |
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 Restaurants close to CoolToday Park |
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| Distance | Restaurant | Street Address | City/Zip | Phone |
| 3.1 miles | Myakka River Oyster Bar | 121 Playmore Dr | Venice, FL 34293 | 941-423-9616 |
| 5.1 | La Rocca Italian | 12500 S Tamiami Trl | North Port, FL 34287 | 941-423-9211 |
| 5.7 | Hungry Howie's Pizza | 13201 S Tamiami Trl | North Port, FL 34287 | 941-426-0995 |
| 5.8 | Outback Steakhouse | 4220 S Tamiami Trl | Venice, FL 34293 | 941-497-2700 |
| 6.0 | Snook Haven | 5000 E Venice Ave | Venice, FL 34292 | 941-485-7221 |
| 6.2 | Jim O'Hara's Cafe | 3974 S Tamiami Trl | Venice, FL 34293 | 941-493-1413 |
| 6.5 | Family Table Restaurant | 14132 Tamiami Trl | North Port, FL 34287 | 941-423-0473 |
| 6.9 | Olde World Restaurant | 14415 Tamiami Trl | North Port, FL 34287 | 941-426-1155 |
| List your restaurant or bar |
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 Airports close to CoolToday Park |
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| Distance | Airport | Airport Code | ||
| 35.5 miles | Sarasota Bradenton International | SRQ | ||
| 71.3 | Southwest Florida International (Fort Myers) | RSW | ||
| 75.9 | St. Pete-Clearwater International | PIE | ||
| 84.5 | Tampa International | TPA | ||
