Take me out to the ball game

Well, technically speaking you will not actually own a piece of the team... but by purchasing BATRA you can track the value of the team and thus benefit from the programs successes. In addition to the team, BATRA also tracks the value of the mixed-used real estate development surrounding the stadium. BATRA is currently owned by media-mogul and investor John Malone through his company Liberty Media.

What do you need to know?

• In baseball, an expensive roster is highly correlated to success over the medium to long term and in 2022 the Atlanta Braves player payroll expense was the 9th highest in the league valued at $180M. The league average is $148M.

• In 2017, the team spent $700M to build a new stadium which helped increase ticket prices due to a combination of more luxury seating and less total capacity. The new stadium also has lower operational costs than the old one.

• However, the new stadium is in the suburbs of Atlanta while the old stadium was in the heart of downtown. The new location, in addition to higher ticket prices, has caused some fans to complain and could lead to lower attendance.

Why should you care?

• Historically, publicly traded sports teams do not stay public for very long because investors receive large tax-benefits for purchasing them.

• For example, hedge fund manager Steven Cohen recently purchased majority ownership of the New York Mets at a $2.4B valuation. While there are big differences between the Mets and Braves, the Braves are only valued at $1.8B currently.

• Notably, the Atlanta Braves have seen huge improvements in their on-field performance in the last few seasons and in 2021 won the World Series.