50 YEARS OF MAJOR-LEAGUE SPORTS
With the Braves winding down their 50th season in Atlanta and the Falcons about to start their 50th, this article completes an AJC series marking a half-century of major-league sports here.
Sunday (now on myAJC.com): A visit with the man who brought the Braves to Atlanta, former team owner Bill Bartholomay. Also, 50 people who have made huge impacts on the city's major-league teams.
Monday (now on myAJC.com): Fifty years. One championship. How Atlanta's shortage of titles compares to other cities.
Today: The marketing of the 50th seasons.
Wednesday: Chat about Atlanta's major-league sports past — and future — with staff writer Tim Tucker on AJC.com at 2 p.m. Also, test your knowledge in an AJC.com interactive quiz.
Given the Falcons’ records through the years, here’s an incongruous statistic: The team is 20-5 when long-time season-ticket holder Bill Schreiner sings the national anthem before games.
“Well, I’ve got a better record than the Falcons do,” he said in a massive understatement.
The Falcons’ plans for commemorating their 50th season, which opens on Sept. 14, include recognizing some of the 488 season-ticket account holders who, like Schreiner, have had tickets continuously since the team’s inception in 1966.
Other plans include a video of franchise highlights narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson and an online vote for fans to select their favorite Falcons moment.
“You only turn 50 once,” said Jim Smith, the Falcons’ chief marketing and revenue officer. “You need to recognize it and highlight it throughout the season.”
The Braves have similarly celebrated their 50th season in Atlanta throughout the summer, highlighted by a reunion last month of their 1995 World Series championship team.
The Falcons haven’t won a Super Bowl, of course, but plan to bring back and recognize members of the team’s Ring of Honor throughout the season. A 50th-season logo will adorn both end zones at the Georgia Dome for all home games.
“We’re also really excited about … celebrating a number of our fans who have been here from the very beginning,” Smith said.
Schreiner, 77, is one such fan. He recalls that he became a season-ticket holder in 1966 when “a group of four or five guys that worked at Lockheed said, ‘The NFL is coming to Atlanta. Let’s get tickets.’”
He still has two mezzanine-level corner season tickets, attends all of the games with his son and has signed up for seats in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Falcons’ new home slated to open in 2017.
“I’ve seen some pretty bad football, but we’re still fans,” Schreiner said.
Through the decades, he has performed the national anthem at 25 Falcons games — solo four times and in groups the other times — and has enjoyed keeping track of the team’s improbably good record in those games.
His first sang at a December 1969 game, which he recalls being dubbed the “Mud Bath” for the weather conditions, that the Falcons won 10-3 over the Vikings.
He was paged from the stands to sing before a 1977 victory over the Saints when the scheduled anthem singer didn’t show up.
He sang at last year’s game against Arizona, another win, but doesn’t know if he’ll be called upon this season.
By most standards, the Falcons’ first half-century has been relatively low on highlights. But their 102-games-below-.500 record in the past 49 seasons (322-424-6) won’t stop them from celebrating their history this season.
“You remember the great plays even from a tough season or the great players who played during tough eras,” Smith said.
Because all NFL regular-season games are part of the league’s national TV deals, the Falcons won’t be able to extend their 50th-season commemoration to the telecasts. The Braves’ celebration of their 50th season in Atlanta has included considerable collaboration with their regional TV partner, Fox Sports, on video packages of the team’s history here.
The Braves have one item left on their 50th-season marketing plan: unveiling the result of a fans’ vote for most memorable Braves moment since the team relocated from Milwaukee.
The vote is being conducted online in a bracket-style format that started last month with 32 entries and will conclude Sept. 30. Still in the running for most memorable moment: Hank Aaron’s 715th home run in 1974, Sid Bream’s famous slide to win the 1992 National League Championship Series, the 1995 World Series championship and others.
The Falcons have a similar fan vote in the works.
Fifty is a popular number in NFL marketing circles this season. For all games across the league, the 50s at midfield will be painted gold, rather than the customary white for yard-line numbers. But that has nothing to do with the Falcons’ 50th season; it’s to commemorate the 50th Super Bowl, which will be played in February in Santa Clara, Calif.
The Falcons aren’t predicted to reach the Super Bowl, but they surely hope their 50th season turns out a lot better on the field than the Braves’ 50th has.
