Atlanta Braves postseason bumps annual revenue to $404M
By Fred Owens
Atlanta Braves’ revenue crossed the $400M mark in 2018, according to a press release today by Braves’ owner Liberty Media Corporation (LMC).
The Englewood Colorado-based company had a good 2018 all around as their Formula One (racing) group saw massive income growth and SiriusXM satellite radio saw subscribers increase by over 1.4 million. For Atlanta Braves fans, the important part of the press release came farther down the page.
"Attributed to Braves Group Baseball revenue grew 9% to $404 million in 2018 Regular season attendance increased to 2.6 million in 2018, representing highest attendance in 11 years . . . The Braves posted strong financial results in their second year at SunTrust Park and the Battery Atlanta . . ."
The full press release, entitled “Liberty Media Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2018 Financial Results”, can be viewed at this link. It was released by the company on Thursday, February 28.
In 2017 Braves Holdings, LLC reported revenue of $317M from baseball activities and $15M from development revenue. Development revenue is the Atlanta Braves income from The Battery Atlanta.
The 2018 season saw baseball revenues rise a respectable 9% to $404M while development revenue jumped 153% to $38M. The third quarter report showed development income of approximately $10M as of September 30. In the fourth quarter, that number jumped due to the sale of residential space at The Battery.
Together those revenue streams generated the $442M widely reported today.
Braves’ revenue surges to $442M for 2018 https://t.co/L1cWtnVqys
— Tim Tucker (@JTimTucker) February 28, 2019
But as usual, there’s more to this story than just the gaudy-looking number in the headline.