Malone: Braves now 'a fairly major real estate business'
With the Atlanta Braves about to be a publicly traded stock for the first time, the chairman of parent company Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LMCA) said Monday that the Braves have become “a fairly major real estate business” in addition to a Major League Baseball team.
Chairman John Malone made the comments at a special meeting of Liberty Media shareholders, who approved the Braves new tracking stock and two others created by the company.
Liberty is expected to make the Braves tracking stock available to the public in a matter of days.
Malone was asked whether he agreed with Forbes’ valuation of the Braves at $1.2 billion.
“I don’t have a clue,” Malone said. "We’ll see shortly. We’ll see what the marketplace puts on it, and decide how efficient our monetization thesis is.
“Now keep in mind,” Malone added, “the Braves now are a fairly major real estate business, as opposed to just a baseball club.”
Malone was referring to SunTrust Park, which is scheduled to open in April 2017, and The Battery Atlanta, the adjacent mixed-use complex, which combined are costing more than $1.1 billion to build.
“I think these are good assets,” Malone said, not just for the Braves but as a broad development project.
“It does give the team more heft. It gives the vision more heft, than just the club itself,” Malone said. Malone also was asked when the 2016 Braves, currently 0-5 and on the road against a tough Washington Nationals club, will win their first game.
“It’ll be awhile,” Malone joked. “We’re rebuilding.”
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