Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Needing a Good Laugh
Executives bullish on the Atlanta Braves
TIM TUCKER / TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE via ALBANY HERALD
ATLANTA (TNS) — Investors in Atlanta Braves owner Liberty Media got a bullish scouting report on their baseball team at a recent meeting in New York.
“Our goal is to win the World Series,” Braves chairman and CEO Terry McGuirk told the group. “That’s what we set out to do every year. We’ve never felt like we were more on a glide slope to get there.”
The Braves’ “two main initiatives” in recent years, McGuirk said, have been to rebuild their minor-league system and to build their new stadium and adjacent mixed-use development. He said both initiatives have been successful, noting the farm system is ranked No. 1 in baseball by some analysts, and SunTrust Park will open “on time and on budget” for the start of next season.
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“We think the Braves are really in a strong position to grow long-term value,” Carleton said. “We think the team, the ballpark and the mixed-use are all really well-positioned.”
Liberty Media has reported in securities filings that SunTrust Park will cost $672 million, plus another $50 million for equipment and related costs. In last week’s presentation, streamed on the company’s website, Carleton showed the total of $722 million coming from $392 million in public funding and $330 million in debt taken on by the Braves.
He said the Braves expect the new stadium to generate significant revenue growth, an unspecified portion of which will go into increasing the payroll.
“History tells us that there’s a 15 to 25 percent increase in revenues as you move into a new ballpark,” Carleton said. “Some of that will flow through to the bottom line, and some of it will prudently go into our on-the-field talent.”
Liberty Media views Braves management as “one of the best in the business,” Carleton said, likening it to the Cardinals’ and Giants’ front offices.
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“In 2014, we looked at our minor-league system and were not happy,” McGuirk said. “We had a bottom-10 minor-league system and said this is not sustainable, not something that is going to work long-term for us.”
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“We have a lot of pitching coming, wave after wave,” he said.
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“We are so jacked up for the beginning of ‘17,” McGuirk said.
[ Ed. Note: that’s a pretty positive outlook, though it must be said that this was a presentation made to investors in Liberty Media, so you should expect that.
Nonetheless, it’s all defensible. The path is straight and the highway is wide. The Braves’ plan should sustain them financially and in terms of a prospect pipeline for several years, and we’re now just starting to open the window of opportunity.
I suppose that’s why we’re just itching to see ‘what’s next to come’ in this off-season, the rebuild, and more. ]