The Battery continues to deliver a financial windfall to the Braves and the franchise is encouraged by its Year 1 results after launching BravesVision.
Through Sept. 30, Atlanta’s mixed-use development revenue was up 19% year-over-year ($84M from $71M) while its baseball revenue was up 3% over that span ($618M from $600M). The Battery has 93% occupancy across its entire portfolio, according to Braves Development Company President/CEO Mike Plant, with 8 million visitors through Sept. 30, an 8% increase YOY.
The Braves’ media-related revenue was down 8% ($152M from $165M), though that was attributed to its new payment schedule. The team said the reported results only reflect two quarters of media-related revenue when compared with this time last year, which included the full year under its previous RSN agreement.
The Braves led the majors in in-market, direct-to-consumer subscribers, while delivering record advertising revenue, according to President/CEO Derek Schiller, who added that the team’s expectation remains that BravesVision, which launched April 1, will exceed its prior local media rights deal.
“Having only 30 days before the season to get things going, we think with more time, we should be even more successful. And it’s proof positive of the value and size of the Braves television marketplace,” Schiller said. “Very bullish on it.”
Meanwhile, Braves owner Terry McGuirk declined comment on CBA negotiations one day after the league and its owners proposed moving the start of their hard salary cap and floor system back to 2028 from 2027. The union swiftly rejected that proposal.
Plant also addressed the bipartisan legislation that was introduced Oct. 2, which would amend a provision causing publicly traded sports teams, including the Braves, Knicks and Rangers, to face tax hikes in 2027. As it stands, the Braves, Knicks and Rangers would face a tax hike on the salaries of their five highest-paid players beginning in 2027, with the Braves ($20M-plus) and Knicks ($45M-plus) looking at substantial increases.
“We continue through our team’s efforts to generate additional sponsors for both those bills, and we’re very confident that there is a legislative or regulatory fix because everyone we talk to continues consistently to say the same thing,” Plant said. “This was a total unintended consequence of the bill that was presented in 2021. So we have a lot of confidence going forward.”
The Braves sold more than 2.8M tickets at Truist Park, with attendance jumping 14% per game in Q3. Retail was up 25% in Q3 due to strong sales on City Connect merchandise.
On the field, the team captured the NL East Division with a 94-win season and eliminated the Phillies in the wild-card round before falling to the Dodgers in the NLDS.