NinersSBChamps
<B>Voted Worst Poster <br> 2015 (Co-Winner)</BR>20
Also try not being such an arrogant prick before making your elitist comments.
Good Piece Sketching Out The Liberty-Braves Arrangement
- Thread starter MadduxFanII
- Start date
Also try not being such an arrogant prick before making your elitist comments.
sturg33
I
But that farm system though!!!
Horsehide Harry
<B>Mr. Free Trade</B>
The issue I have with this is that it is an incomplete story at best.
The story does mention that the Braves have returned a profit to Liberty.
So, here's a likely scenario for you: McGuirk gets paid a base salary, let's say $1M per year, then he has a bonus dependent upon what profit he returns to Liberty each year (let's say for every $10M in profit he earns $1M in bonus), then Liberty IS in fact affecting the Braves and how they are run by the simple structure of the compensation packages that they have in place with the baseball execs.
So does McGuirk or JS or whoever, spend those extra payroll dollars when they are unsure about their own personal comp? Almost certainly not.
The story does mention that the Braves have returned a profit to Liberty.
So, here's a likely scenario for you: McGuirk gets paid a base salary, let's say $1M per year, then he has a bonus dependent upon what profit he returns to Liberty each year (let's say for every $10M in profit he earns $1M in bonus), then Liberty IS in fact affecting the Braves and how they are run by the simple structure of the compensation packages that they have in place with the baseball execs.
So does McGuirk or JS or whoever, spend those extra payroll dollars when they are unsure about their own personal comp? Almost certainly not.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
I've wondered if something along those lines played a role in Wren's firing. McGuirk did sign off on blowing through the budget to sign Santana in 2014. JS gave a couple odd interviews in which he said that management now had a responsibility to bring down the payroll back to its planned level. But that did not happen and on top of it attendance dropped almost 200,000 in 2014. I would guess a few budget targets were missed in 2014 and some bonuses affected as a result.
NYCBrave
Well-known member
Thanks for sharing this article, but this still is not a good situation. You've got to spend money and take financial risks to make money, and we seem unwilling or unable to do that. If the goal is to just break even every year, how are we even going to increase of success potential, if we're not even willing to take long term risks that could lead to big rewards? We're going to be stuck in this cycle for years to come unless this team is sold to an owner who cares about winning, which we don't have obviously. In essence, for us to have any type of success in the future, it's going to require a lot of luck.
Building an brand new baseball complex isn't taking long term risk?
cajunrevenge
Well-known member
No, the real grinch in this story is the man who knew these things AND had the ability to veto both the TV deal and the sale. Look at the difference between how Selig handled the Braves and Dodgers TV deals and sale. Selig veto'd a 2 billion dollar TV deal for the Dodgers because "it wasnt in the best interest of the team". The Braves owner in the process of selling the team signed a 25 year contract which was the longest tv deal at the time for less than 20 million a year and ****ing rubber stamped that ****. Where the **** was the concern for the well being of the Braves franchise or its fan base?
What bothers me the most about it is that Liberty media was okay with the horrendous TV deal because it lowered the value of the team.
TLDR - I hope that corrupt piece of **** Selig dies in a fire.
edit - and lets not forget how MLB feels so bad for the Nats that they just give them 25 million a year just to piss me the **** off even more.
blueagleace1
Playing the Waiting Game
Read the numbers on the chart...
Turner Field Capacity - 50,096
The seasons you reference and their average attendance...
2015 - 24,709 (49.323% of capacity)
2014 - 29,065 (58.019% of capacity)
2013 - 31,465 (62.809% of capacity)
The Ted was almost 40% EMPTY during regular season games even when the team made the playoffs WITH Heyward, Upton, and Gattis on the roster. It was 42% EMPTY the last season the Braves had those players.
Fans haven't SUPPORTED the team - actually come out to see the games - since 1999. The average attendance for home games that year was 40,554 (80.952% of capacity - or 9,089 more tickets sold per game than when they made the playoffs in 2013). You do the math - 9,089 x 81 x $25 = $18,405,225 more to spend on salaries - and that's if $25 is ALL those extra fans in attendance spent while at the park - it doesn't include parking revenues and apparel sales. Not coincidentally, the Braves had the 2nd highest payroll in 1999 coming off a 1998 season where they averaged 41,492 per home game.
They can't make it much simpler - if fans actually came to the games, they'd spend more money on payroll.
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
I believe that Liberty extended the Braves a large loan to finance the new stadium and other related properties. The terms of that loan are what I'd like to see details on.
NYCBrave
Well-known member
Well, how is that being funded?
cajunrevenge
Well-known member
One more thing, why the **** do the Cubs not have the share their revenue from games being on WGN? I dont have cable anymore but when I did I always had WGN and I have never lived within 1000 miles of Chicago. Why did the Braves have to split their TBS money equally with everyone else and then get forced into pricing themselves out of the deal and the Cubs and WGN did not? Thats some Grade A Bull ****.
NinersSBChamps
<B>Voted Worst Poster <br> 2015 (Co-Winner)</BR>20
I wouldn't go that far with it. We haven't been having our stupid adolescent disagreements lately though.
Horsehide Harry
<B>Mr. Free Trade</B>
But it's an if/then proposition.
If you put a better product on the field, one that produces some excitement and with some marketing behind it to draw in the average fan, then fans will come. You invest in the product and it will pay off if those investments are wise investments. If you look at the Braves payroll and adjust for inflation of the cost to run the franchise, the payroll is significantly lower each year even as it stays relatively stagnant.
The other part of it is that the Braves, even with all the success of the 90's and 2000's, still only one one WS. I think a lot of casual fans that could have been developed into more loyal fans never were because of the perceived lack of success. I think a lot of casual fans soured on the Braves way because they associated that with good, but not good enough.
And then the final thing is the park and its location. A lot of fans just have no interest in in taking their family into Atlanta proper for a game, call it racism, call it fear of crime or just general fear, call it avoidance of hassle, call it what you will but its there.
Running the team like they have been running it is just one thin mistake (probably already made back in 2013 or so) from locking onto the downhill rails with no way off until the train hits bottom (poor team, attendance declines, payroll lowered, poor team again, attendance continues to decline, payroll lowered again with justification essentially sayings fans won't come and spend big money to watch our ****y product so we can't afford to invest to make it better, all on a downward spiral right to the late 70's.