Atlanta Braves and Omni Hotels Have a Deal
By Fred Owens
Liberty Media
In addition to their ownership of the Braves, Liberty media’s website lists interests in the following companies.
- Associated Partners, L.P. 37%
- Barnes & Noble 2%
- Crown Media Holdings 3%
- Ideiasnet 10%
- INRIX 4%
- Kroenke Arena Company, LLC 7%
- Liberty Associated Partners, L.P. 29%
- Liberty Israel Ventures Fund, LLC 80%
- Live Nation 27%
- Mobile Streams 16%
- Saavn 5%
- SiriusXM 56%
- Tastemade 6%
- TimeInc. <1%
- Time Warner Inc. <1%
- Viacom Inc. 1%
Several of the listed interests dovetail nicely into the idea of an entertainment complex. Kroenke who owns the Pepsi Center in Denver has expertise is managing sports complexes for profit.
Live Nation is the largest live entertainment company in the world dealing in concert promotion and venue operations, sponsorship and ancillary operations. That suggests they know a bit about filling the entertainment venues with talent. The latter probably had an affect on Omni partnering with the Braves but Omni has other reasons as well.
While Atlanta is building a new stadium come convention center downtown anyone who attends events there knows it’s expensive and getting around isn’t exactly a walk in the park – though you can walk in the park if you don’t mind being soaked with sweat when you arrive. The Omni operates resorts and convention centers around the world and host whole conventions within their complexes.
How big this site will be hasn’t yet been announced but it’s reasonable to assume that while they won’t offer hosting for monster sized conventions they will be able to host small to medium conventions and trade shows there. The surrounding area will offer the ability to walk to a restaurant or theater – yes you may get sweaty there too but it should be a shorter and easier hike – or other amenities without paying for a cab or fighting the subway and the stairs. It seems on a pretty easy sell for the Braves but some credit probably goes to Liberty Media’s business acumen and financial guarantees of support for the overall complex.