sturg33
I
Taken from a blog at this link
The Braves are now worth $1.15 billion, up 58 percent in just one year and two-and-a-half times what the club was worth when Liberty Media acquired it in 2007. Hooray, Liberty! I’m sure the Cobb County taxpayers footing a big chunk of the bill for the new ball yard are popping champagne corks while they’re stuck on I-75 today.
Not many things appreciate 58 percent in a year, or 155 percent in eight years. That’s 2005 Miami condo-like. Except the Braves’ value might well keep climbing, albeit not quite as rapidly as it did over the past year. Liberty’s CEO Greg Maffei–you know, the guy we see at all the games, riding the emotional roller coast along with all us fans–said a few months back that the new Cobb stadium/mall would boost the club’s value. Dude knows business.
And his emotional attachment to the Braves is palpable. Just look at these quotes from an investor conference call last month:
“I don’t think we have a need to monetize (by selling the team). I don’t think we have a current plan to monetize. We remain very happy with (the Braves’ financial) prospects…..We’re pleased; we continue to move forward there; we’re happy to see the value creation. And go Braves,” Maffei said.
Sounds just like vintage Ted Turner, doesn’t it?
Anyhow, the Braves, according to Forbes, are the 12th most valuable MLB franchise. You wouldn’t know it from this offseason’s transactions, though. And at $1.15 billion, the team now represents 9 percent of Liberty’s total market value of $13 billion.
So there’s that.