Braves Predicting Even Larger Revenue Drop as Games Without Fans Loom
By Tyler Kemp
The MLB is drafting the general framework to bring back baseball relatively soon, but that could mean playing games without crowds. According to Greg Maffei of Liberty Media, the CEO of the Braves’ parent company in Atlanta, the team is prepared to take the field without fans. While this is the right thing to say from a baseball perspective, the bottom line is going to take a significant hit.
According to Liberty Media, the Braves took in $22 million in total revenue in the first three months of 2020, which is similar to the numbers from the first three months of 2019. In addition, baseball revenue from ballpark operations, broadcast rights and league revenue streams are down $2 million from $14 million in 2019 to $12 million in 2020.
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei spoke with analysts today on a call. He touched on possibility of ⚾️ in bubble cities: “It appears most likely there will not be the bubble concepts. So late June start spring training and (open) early July without fans.” https://t.co/DDkhTryH4n
— Eric Jackson (@epjackson) May 7, 2020
With the lack of unearned revenues from media rights deals, there has been a 14% decline in these revenue streams for the Braves organization. Without fans in the crowd to help balance the numbers for ballpark operations, Atlanta is looking at a big deficit when it comes to making profit based off the expenses already accrued in the first few months of 2020.
In 2018, the Atlanta Braves’ operating expenses amounted to just 60% of their total revenue.
— Greg Huss (@OutOfTheVines) February 27, 2020
In 2019, a year in which they built a brand new stadium, their operating expenses still only amounted to 71% of their total revenue.
Owners and the MLBPA announced that the players will be advanced $170 million for April and May, so that helps to cover costs. For Atlanta, it will be difficult to make up the difference without fans in the seats that are spending money on tickets, concessions, parking, etc. The next few months will be very important in terms of how the league proceeds and the Braves could feel the effects the most.