Augusta, GA

Augusta leaders want to keep James Brown name on arena

Published

7 months ago

June 18, 2025

Augusta leaders want to keep James Brown name on arena

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta Commission members on Tuesday signed a letter of support for keeping the James Brown name on the new arena when it’s built.

The old James Brown Arena was torn down, and a new arena is being built with sales tax revenues.

All along, people made the assumption that the new building would be a new James Brown Arena.

And no one stepped forward to say otherwise.

That is, until the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority recently dropped the bombshell that the plan is to sell off the naming rights.

That led to an uproar on the Augusta Commission and elsewhere.

We’ve also heard from the estate of James Brown, with family members saying the Godfather of Soul gifted the rights to his name to Augusta.

In a letter addressed to the head of the Coliseum Authority, commissioners express dismay at learning they and voters have been misled about the arena’s name.

The letter questions whether the naming rights for the arena need to be sold to cover costs – or for another, unknown reason.

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At the end, commissioners request that representatives from the authority speak in front of commission explaining their reasoning and plans to honor James Brown.

The authority claimed it has always intended to sell off the naming rights – despite early drawings of the new building that featured the name of the Godfather of Soul as well as a URL on an authority’s website referring to it as the new James Brown Arena.

Authority officials said the rights to James Brown’s name had been sold by the family to an outside company, so the authority couldn’t use that name if it wanted to, officials said.

That company quickly came back and said Brown had gifted his name to the arena free of charge, and the company intended to honor that. The company went so far as to say it was “appalled” the authority would give up the honor just to make some money by selling off the naming rights.

The name on the renderings subtly changed to “Augusta Entertainment Complex” sometime between a failed 2021 vote on a tax plan to fund the arena and a second vote that passed in 2024.

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Augusta, GA

Augusta Jaguars preparing to host cross-town rival USC Aiken Pacers

Published

10 hours ago

January 14, 2026

Press Room

Augusta Jaguars preparing to host cross-town rival USC Aiken Pacers

AUGUSTA, GA (WJBF)- The Augusta men’s basketball team is gearing up to host cross-town rival the USC Aiken Pacers Wednesday night in a Peach Belt Conference matchup.

The Jags held their last full day of practice at Christenberry Fieldhouse before they take the court against the Pacers. Augusta holds a 54-33 lead in the overall series, but the Pacers swept the Jags last season.

Both teams this year off to a slower start in conference play, with just five wins combined between the two programs. So, this matchup will serve as a strong evaluation on where the teams are at now, and what they can improve on moving forward.

“We started the season off a little slow. But each game you can see the progress that we’re making in practice, the progress that we’re making. As a team we’re starting to click and understand what it takes,” said AU point guard Kyndon Wilburg.

“Rebounding the basketball is probably the most important thing, getting back in transition. This would be a huge win for us, coming off a tough loss from lander. I think it would be a great way to kick start what we’re about to do,” Wilburg said.

Tip-off for the men is set for 7:30 p.m. at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

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Augusta, GA

We the People: Augusta Museum showcases new America’s 250th exhibit

Published

22 hours ago

January 13, 2026

Press Room

We the People: Augusta Museum showcases new America’s 250th exhibit

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Augusta Museum of History is launching a new America’s 250th exhibit that showcases the area’s Revolutionary War, Civil War and modern-day connections.

“When people think of the Revolutionary War, a lot of times they think of up north, you know, New England and Paul Revere, but there’s just as much history down here,” Krystal Lyons, head of education, said.

The exhibit is a chronological journey through Augusta’s past

The exhibit moves chronologically through Augusta’s history, telling specific stories through objects that have not been displayed before or in a long time.

The display starts with Native Americans and the Stallings Island community, progresses through the Revolutionary period and into the Civil War and antebellum period before arriving at the modern day.

Visitors should plan multiple visits to see all the historical stories the artifacts tell, as the exhibit will change every three months.

“These stories that each of these artifacts has, it has a little story that we can connect to people today, so it might feel like a long time ago, 250 years ago, but there’s a lot of things that we do that are just the same today as they were 250 years ago.”

You can also visit the Augusta Museum of History’s social media pages as they deep dive into one artifact per week throughout the year.

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Augusta, GA

GameStop to close 16 Georgia locations, including 1 in Augusta

Published

1 day ago

January 13, 2026

Press Room

GameStop to close 16 Georgia locations, including 1 in Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Video game retailer GameStop is reportedly closing 16 stores in Georgia, including one Augusta location, as part of its “comprehensive store portfolio optimization.”

The store in Augusta is located in the Southpointe Plaza at 3209 Deans Bridge Road.

The retailer announced in an SEC filing that it plans to close “a significant number of additional stores in fiscal 2025.”

While an official list is not available, emails sent to customers and notices sent to employees indicate 16 stores in Georgia are on the chopping block.

All Georgia locations closing include:

North Point Mall, 1198 North Point Circle, Alpharetta
Lenox Square Mall, 3393 Peachtree Rd. NE Suite 2027, Atlanta
Howell Mill, 1801 Howell Mill Rd. NW, Atlanta
Southpointe Plaza, 3209 Deans Bridge Rd., Augusta
Shops @ Main Street, 455 Cherokee Pl., Cartersville
Chamblee Village, 1841 Chamblee-Tucker Rd., Chamblee
Peachtree Mall, 3131 Manchester Expwy. #34B, Columbus
Cumming Marketplace, 1060 Market Place Blvd., Cumming
Dublin Commons, 2421 Hwy. 80 W, Dublin
Hartwell Station, 115 Walmart Dr., Hartwell
4959 Bill Gardner Pkwy., Locust Grove
McDonough Square, 1144 Hwy. 20-81, McDonough
Pharrs Village, 1830 Scenic Hwy. N, Snellville
Stone Mountain Festival, 1825 Rockbridge Rd., Stone Mountain
Cofer Crossing, 4363 Lawrenceville Hwy., Tucker

GameStop’s board of directors recently approved $35 billion in performance-based stock options for CEO Ryan Cohen, should the company’s market cap hit $100 billion. The company’s market cap is $9.3 billion.

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