The Atlanta Braves will become an independent, publicly traded team later this month, as Liberty Media will split with the Braves on July 18.
The date of the split was announced by Liberty Media earlier this month, with the Braves becoming "Atlanta Braves Holdings Incorporated" once complete.
Liberty Media announced the split back in November of 2022, with President and CEO Greg Maffei saying in a statement:
"These actions will provide greater investor choice and enable targeted investment and capital-raising through more focused currencies, while maintaining an optimal capital structure for Liberty Media and preserving optionality with respect to our subsidiary SiriusXM and our Live Nation stake.”"
Liberty Media originally purchased the Braves from Time Warner back in 2007 for $1.5 billion. In 2023, Forbes has the franchise now valued at $2.6 billion, the eighth most valuable franchise in Major League Baseball.
So, what does this all change for 2023? Well, nothing, when it comes to the on-field product. The Atlanta Braves will now operate as its own entity, while Liberty Media will remain the majority stakeholder in the team. Liberty will be exchanging all their current shares in the team for the new Braves stock once it hits the market.
You can read more about the original announcement from Liberty Media regarding "The Split-Off" from our Fred Owens here.
The Braves will official hit the stock market as "Atlanta Braves Holdings" on July 19, for those wanting to tell your friends you're a shareholder of currently the best team in baseball.
Meanwhile, the season continues on as Atlanta continues to terrorize baseball with its incredible 2023. The Braves sit almost 30 games over .500 heading into the final four games of the first half, and hold a comfortable lead in the NL East. Atlanta's back in action on Wednesday night on the road in Cleveland.