Atlanta Braves 2018 opening payroll stands at roughly the true payroll level for last season. So, are the Braves being cheap or thrifty?
By now most understand Scott Boras’ rants should be taken with a grain of salt and two aspirin. Not only do they cloud the issues, they also cast aspersions on the Atlanta Braves among others.
Boras worded his statement carefully: exactly what one would expect from a lawyer.
"Now, with 24 teams earning at least $150 million more in revenue than their payrolls in this $12 billion industry, according to Boras’ calculations and refuted by club owners, maybe now they’ll take out that dusty checkbook and start spending. Bob Nightengale USA Today 1/29/2018"
His personal agenda aside, Boras’ remarks bear looking if only to clear the fog around them. he said revenue – not profit – with good reason: he doesn’t know how much profit the teams made. He also knew that the average person would hear revenue and assume it meant profit. According to Investopedia revenue and profit are completely different things.
"Revenue is the amount of money that a company actually receives during a specific period . . . the top line or gross income figure from which costs are subtracted to determine net income. Profit is a financial benefit that is realized when the amount of revenue gained from a business activity exceeds the expenses, costs and taxes needed to sustain the activity."
While we can’t look at every team’s financials, the Atlanta Braves parent company – Liberty Media – is publicly held and files an annual report with the SEC. That gives us a chance to look at how the Braves’ fiscal year went.