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Atlanta Braves third quarter revenues halved

By Fred Owens

YANGON, BURMA - OCTOBER 08: A bank employee stacks 1,000 kyat notes at the KBZ Bank main office on October 8, 2015 in Yangon, Burma. In Burma, the most widely deposited bank note is worth 1,000 kyat (0.75 USD). Bank branches often have to employ dozens of employees to count, bundle, and move the huge amount of bills they deal with on a daily basis. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images)
YANGON, BURMA - OCTOBER 08: A bank employee stacks 1,000 kyat notes at the KBZ Bank main office on October 8, 2015 in Yangon, Burma. In Burma, the most widely deposited bank note is worth 1,000 kyat (0.75 USD). Bank branches often have to employ dozens of employees to count, bundle, and move the huge amount of bills they deal with on a daily basis. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves
How much money will the Atlanta Braves still have to spend this winter? (Photo by studio EAST/Getty Images) /

The Atlanta Braves 2020 season was a huge success, but COVID-19 restrictions erased any hope of extra revenue or higher payroll in 2021.

Last Thursday, Atlanta Braves’ owners Liberty Media released their third-quarter financial report; as expected, revenues were down considerably over 2019.

Note:  All financial numbers that follow are given in millions of dollars and rounded.

As you’d expect, baseball revenue saw the biggest decline, dropping 50% from $203 in 2019 to $102 this year. Revenue from The Battery Atlanta dropped as well but not as sharply, falling just 11% from $9 to $8.

Results from a single quarter don’t give a complete picture for any organization, and revenue is less than half the financial picture. We gain a better understanding by looking at the year to date compared to the previous year, including expenses, debt, and revenues.

Throughout this post, I’m using data from:

Atlanta Braves’ revenues and expenses

The first quarter (January through March) of both 2019 and 2020 saw the Braves bring in the same $22 in revenue. This year’s expenses were down by $4 because the team spent less due to the uncertainty surrounding how COVID-19 would affect the season.

The second quarter of 2019 saw revenues rise to $208, followed by a third-quarter rise to $212. In 2020, second-quarter revenues reached only $11, followed by a third-quarter jump to $110, because the team played 30 games and brought in money from broadcast rights.

I’ll save you some calculator time; over the first three quarters of 2020, Atlanta Braves’ revenue dropped 68% from $442 to $143.

Operating expenses dropped as well, from $307 in 2019 to $188 in 2020, roughly 39%. To prevent boring you to death with numbers, I’ll skip to the bottom line.

At the end of the third quarter in 2019, the Atlanta Braves had erased the first two quarters’ losses and posted an income of $12. The first three quarters of 2020 posted a loss of $88.

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