Liberty Media reveals Braves’ financial results; revenue up 70% in quarter

[Enscheff]

If the Braves want to see the kids in the rotation as well as Camargo at third base then where is the money going to spent? Just because you have money doesn't mean you should always spend it. If they saved money for future seasons to pay for extensions for Albies/Acuna/Pitchers I'd be fine with that.

How about the dumpster fire that is the Braves OF? Think there's room to improve there?

It was predictable the pozzy king would go right to the "they have the money but they don't want to spend it" line haha.

[thethe]

How about the dumpster fire that is the Braves OF? Think there's room to improve there?

It was predictable the pozzy king would go right to the "they have the money but they don't want to spend it" line haha.

Acuna will be up in May probably. Platoon of Kemp/Markakis is more than passable. Part time roles for both of those players may lead to increased production. Buy hey, the Braves are the worst organization in sports is the better theme. Please continue.

[Enscheff]

Acuna will be up in May probably. Platoon of Kemp/Markakis is more than passable. Part time roles for both of those players may lead to increased production. Buy hey, the Braves are the worst organization in sports is the better theme. Please continue.

Yes, sticking with a $30M platoon in LF that will still produce below average overall is the mark of an intelligently piloted franchise.

Revenue up. Profit up. Payroll down. Still running out garbage in LF. Excellent leadership!!

Posibraves asssemmmmbbbbbllleeee!

[chop2chip]

How about the dumpster fire that is the Braves OF? Think there's room to improve there?

It was predictable the pozzy king would go right to the "they have the money but they don't want to spend it" line haha.

And how exactly should they throw money at that problem to fix it?

[Enscheff]

And how exactly should they throw money at that problem to fix it?

I'll let you peruse these forums and find the 50 ideas posted by myself and other members of the board about how the Braves can address LF this offseason.

[chop2chip]

I'll let you peruse these forums and find the 50 ideas posted by myself and other members of the board about how the Braves can address LF this offseason.

So if the Braves (or I) disagree with your ideas that means inherently that they missed revenues targets and they need to tighten the belt?

I could walk down loopy logic lane with you or I could just look at the books and see the Braves are doing just fine financially. Occam’s razor

[thethe]

So if the Braves (or I) disagree with your ideas that means inherently that they missed revenues targets and they need to tighten the belt?

I could walk down loopy logic lane with you or I could just look at the books and see the Braves are doing just fine financially. Occam’s razor

Yeah...it's clear the braves are making money. Their financial prospects in Cobb far exceeds when they were in Atlanta.

[CrimsonCowboy]

I’m sure that if you asked some Liberty board members, they either don’t know or forgot they own a baseball team. Has anyone from Liberty even been to a Braves game?

[Enscheff]

So if the Braves (or I) disagree with your ideas that means inherently that they missed revenues targets and they need to tighten the belt?

I could walk down loopy logic lane with you or I could just look at the books and see the Braves are doing just fine financially. Occam’s razor

Lol ok bud.

A team trying to contend and hits revenue projections has to decrease payroll the next year.

Makes total sense!

[JxnMissFan]

Lol ok bud.

A team trying to contend and hits revenue projections has to decrease payroll the next year.

Makes total sense!

Encheff your a smart guy when your talking about stats but you have a bad habit of throwing all your credibility away. This was a discussion about the published financial reports of the team until you hijacked it with your conspiracy theories about missed revenues and payroll.

[Enscheff]

Encheff your a smart guy when your talking about stats but you have a bad habit of throwing all your credibility away. This was a discussion about the published financial reports of the team until you hijacked it with your conspiracy theories about missed revenues and payroll.

I’m just trying to get one of the financial geniuses in this board to explain how:

Revenue is up.
Profits are up.
The Braves are terrible.
The Braves want to get better.
There are several ways to get better by increasing payroll.
Yet...payroll goes down.

As soon as someone can square those facts I’m going to assume that they still missed projections and payroll is being accordingly adjusted.

Maybe the brainiac who tried to explain supply and demand to me with regards to Garcia’s trade value after he had a good start can chime in again.

[JxnMissFan]

I’m just trying to get one of the financial geniuses in this board to explain how:

Revenue is up.
Profits are up.
The Braves are terrible.
The Braves want to get better.
There are several ways to get better by increasing payroll.
Yet...payroll goes down.

As soon as someone can square those facts I’m going to assume that they still missed projections and payroll is being accordingly adjusted.

I do share some of your concerns. I can't remember the source but I saw somewhere the Braves YTD revenue through Q3 was 104 million above last year. On the surface that looks like a win. But I haven't seen anything that explains in detail what is driving that growth. Is the growth the new revenue floor or was it a one time blimp? Its been well documented here that attendance was not what would normally be expected in a new park. So if attendance was a revenue driver then a winning team should sustain the revenue growth.

I'm really interested in what the revenue will be in the non baseball months (Q4 & Q1). we were promised a year round revenue stream that help grow payroll.

I agree If the growth in revenue and profits are real then a lower payroll is a slap in the face to Braves fans. I'm waiting until the FO is settled before I get upset about spending.

[thethe]

I do share some of your concerns. I can't remember the source but I saw somewhere the Braves YTD revenue through Q3 was 104 million above last year. On the surface that looks like a win. But I haven't seen anything that explains in detail what is driving that growth. Is the growth the new revenue floor or was it a one time blimp? Its been well documented here that attendance was not what would normally be expected in a new park. So if attendance was a revenue driver then a winning team should sustain the revenue growth.

I'm really interested in what the revenue will be in the non baseball months (Q4 & Q1). we were promised a year round revenue stream that help grow payroll.

I agree If the growth in revenue and profits are real then a lower payroll is a slap in the face to Braves fans. I'm waiting until the FO is settled before I get upset about spending.

The fact that attendance lagged at the end of the season can be looked at as a good thing. That means there is a lot of room for growth in the revenue.

Attendance is most certainly a driver but you have to look also at the average spend per attendant. Because of the many options the park/battery have to offer, the fans are just spending more moeny when they go visit a Brave game. That includes tickets/concessions/dining/activities/etc... Of course not everyone spending money at the battery is is going to the games so there are other drivers of revenues that need to be considered. This should not be looked at as a negative. There is just more ways to generate revenue to the Braves bottom line at Cobb. Not sure how this can be debated.

Braves had a great fiscal season at 75% attendance. What if that goes up to 85? 95? There is so much potential here that it should make any Brave fan pumped.

[nsacpi]

A few observations.

1) Revenue went up in 2017. So did costs. Payroll was up almost 40M from 2016. I'm sure other costs rose as well.

2) The great unknown is what projected revenues were. We can make some informed guesses from the fact that the bump up in attendance was not as good as you would expect from other experiences with new stadia.

3) Payroll each year is based on projected revenues. In light of any disappointment in 2017 attendance and also the projections you would be looking at from what happened at other stadia after the first-year bump in attendance, it would not be surprising to see some belt-tightening in 2018.

4) Some of the comments coming out of the FO as well as some of the transactions suggest that we might see a reduction in payroll in 2018.

[Enscheff]

A few observations.

1) Revenue went up in 2017. So did costs. Payroll was up almost 40M from 2016. I'm sure other costs rose as well.

2) The great unknown is what projected revenues were. We can make some informed guesses from the fact that the bump up in attendance was not as good as you would expect from other experiences with new stadia.

3) Payroll each year is based on projected revenues. In light of any disappointment in 2017 attendance and also the projections you would be looking at from what happened at other stadia after the first-year bump in attendance, it would not be surprising to see some belt-tightening in 2018.

4) Some of the comments coming out of the FO as well as some of the transactions suggest that we might see a reduction in payroll in 2018.

As always, you get it.

It’s not hard to connect the dots here.

[Carp]

I’m just trying to get one of the financial geniuses in this board to explain how:

Revenue is up.
Profits are up.
The Braves are terrible.
The Braves want to get better.
There are several ways to get better by increasing payroll.
Yet...payroll goes down.

As soon as someone can square those facts I’m going to assume that they still missed projections and payroll is being accordingly adjusted.

Maybe the brainiac who tried to explain supply and demand to me with regards to Garcia’s trade value after he had a good start can chime in again.

I'm still trying to find where the FO has said payroll is going down.

[nsacpi]

I'm still trying to find where the FO has said payroll is going down.

Hart gave an interview a few weeks ago, with the AJC I think, where he seemed to be discouraging expectations of any major signings. He didn't explicitly say payroll would be down, but seemed a bit of an exercise in expectations management.

[bravesfanMatt]

I don't care if someone is 'right' or 'wrong'.. stupid really. I hope payroll is down, because there is no one that I particular want at the price they will cost in this FA class. Unless we trade for payroll then I am not interested in adding much more via FA. I am more disappointed in the coaches we are assembling/retaining over cock fighting about payroll.

[Enscheff]

I'm still trying to find where the FO has said payroll is going down.

I suppose you will need to see the total payroll on March 1, 2018 before you can connect the dots.

[Southcack77]

I do share some of your concerns. I can't remember the source but I saw somewhere the Braves YTD revenue through Q3 was 104 million above last year. On the surface that looks like a win. But I haven't seen anything that explains in detail what is driving that growth. Is the growth the new revenue floor or was it a one time blimp? Its been well documented here that attendance was not what would normally be expected in a new park. So if attendance was a revenue driver then a winning team should sustain the revenue growth.

I'm really interested in what the revenue will be in the non baseball months (Q4 & Q1). we were promised a year round revenue stream that help grow payroll.

I agree If the growth in revenue and profits are real then a lower payroll is a slap in the face to Braves fans. I'm waiting until the FO is settled before I get upset about spending.

You folks have some strange ideas about what you were promised.