Atlanta Braves 2019 revenues fund higher payroll
By Fred Owens
Liberty Media Corporation (LMC) published an outline of their 2019 revenues, including the revenues of their subsidiary, the Atlanta Braves.
The Atlanta Braves are the only Major League team that must release revenues and expenses because it’s a publicly-traded company.
Rogers Communications owns the Blue Jays, but their annual report doesn’t mention baseball because they purchased the team long before MLB had difficulties with corporate owners. They lump the Jays financial into their entertainment division, hiding team finances.
Under the purchase agreement with MLB, LMC had to divorce itself from day-to-day baseball operations and created Braves Holdings to comply with MLB stipulations. As a result, every year LMC produces an annual report known as Form 10-K.
When Forbes publishes its annual list of team revenues, all except the Atlanta Braves are estimates. Likewise, all financial data quoted in this post comes from LMC’s form 10-k. A summary of the data and outline of its sources is also available in a press release dated February 26, 2020. The press release is easier to read.
Braves Holdings derives income from two sources – baseball activities and development revenue.
Baseball income comes from:
- ballpark operations (ticket sales, concessions, corporate sales, retail, suites, premium seat fees and postseason),
- local broadcast rights and
- national broadcast rights, licensing, and other shared MLB revenue streams.
The 2019 season saw baseball revenue increase by eight percent to $438M.
Development revenue comes from:
- The Battery Atlanta – rental income.
I love it when a plan comes together
The LMC and the Braves created The Battery Atlanta concept to infuse cash into the team’s coffers while avoiding the pitfalls of injecting LMC cash directly into a subsidiary from which the parent corporation realizes no profit.
In 2017, the Atlanta Braves earned $10M in development income from The Battery Atlanta. In 2018 the recurring earning remained the same but reported revenue increased due to a one-time $28M increase that I explained this time last year.
"The 2018 season saw . . . development revenue jumped 153% to $38M. . . . due to the sale of residential space at The Battery."
This year the Atlanta Braves earned the entire $38M from recurring income. While the reported development income is the same $38M, recurring revenue grew by $28M, a 180% increase over 2018.
The Battery Atlanta is three years old, and development income will continue to grow.