Finally, Light at the End of the Tunnel, but Now What?

by gondeee on Feb 12, 2007 8:41 PM EST

According to the Wall Street Journal, Time Warner has "finally" reached a deal to sell the Atlanta Braves to Liberty Media. ESPN has the story here, but there is as yet no mention of it at WSJ.com. The story cites "an unnamed person familiar with the deal," so let's hope deep throat is right about this and a deal has been reached.

While this at least removes the cloud of who will own the team this season, it replaced it with another cloud of what will Liberty Media and CEO John Malone do with the team. We can only hope that when they finally officially announce the deal, Liberty will accompany that announcement with another detailing what they have in store for the budget and operation of the Braves - mainly so we don't have bloody speculate for days or weeks.

It's gonna be an interesting next couple of days...

Update [2007-2-13 9:51:0 by gondeee]:

From the AJC:

"This is a very complicated deal that will take baseball some time to review and consider," McGuirk said in an exclusive interview Monday night. "Until we hear back from baseball, there is nothing further to do."

So it looks like we are in another holding pattern. Who knows how Selig and the owners will react to this type of deal – it is rather unprecedented for baseball. I’ll post more when we know more, but for now it’s just guess work.

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Are you sure...

...it is the end of the tunnel? I am treating this as the beginning of another tunnel. What light did you see because I am sure not seeing any!!!

by kc @ Talking Chop on Feb 13, 2007 12:50 AM EST reply actions

Well

Malone has stated already that there weren't any plans to cut payroll and they would be open to expanding payroll if the situation was right. So that at least sounds like light to me. And even if things stay the same, hopefully they sell the braves at the end of the season to some private owners.

.....Matt

by yondaime4 on Feb 13, 2007 4:04 AM EST reply actions

Don't think thats possible

The main reason Liberty "purchased" (acquired is a better word) the Braves is for the HUGE tax break that they would stand to reap. Now, from what I understand, they would only get the tax break if they hold on to the Braves for a period of five years....otherwise they would have to pay capital gains tax on the sale.

There really is no way to know what the future holds for the Braves in the hands of Liberty. The only thing that we as fans can do is simply guess. Liberty has been feeding the press the old company line when asked about how the change in ownership will affect the team. They just keep saying that current Braves management will remain in place.

It's not necessarily a "bad thing" that a huge congolmerate has purchased the Braves. I read today that Fox owns the Dodgers...and they were spenders on the free agent market and have a higher payroll than we do. The only thing is this: Businesses are in business for one sole purpose...and that's to make money. Meaning, if fans don't fill the seats in Turner Field, revenue will suffer. And if revenue suffers, owner's spending will drop. Let's start filling the ballpark and give Liberty a reason to "invest" in this team.

by Jeff on Feb 13, 2007 4:24 AM EST reply actions

Count me in for atleast 20 home games....

but remember the poll ESPN took on the worst sports citys. Atlanta was number one. Ask not what the tomahawk can do for you, ask what you can do for the tomahawk!

by surge on Feb 13, 2007 2:45 PM EST up reply actions

Fear

My main worry concerns Liberty Media's stake with Direct TV. With the Extra Innings package going exclusively to Direct TV, I dread a scenario where Liberty Media makes Braves games viewable only through Direct TV. I haven't the faintest idea of how the in's and out's of that would be executed. But if Baseball Business 101 has taught me anything, it's that I will get the ol' screw job one way or the other.

by rabies on Feb 13, 2007 8:31 AM EST reply actions

Good Point

Unfortunately, Surge, I have to agree with them. With the success the Braves have had throughout the last 15 years there is no reason we shouldn't be able to draw attendance similar to the Cardinals or the Astros. Plus our ticket prices are not above average for MLB teams. I purchased season tickets this year for $249 per seat. Thats for the whole year! Given, those are upper deck seats, but that price equates to only $3 per ticket per game.

Fear: I worry about that too. I know that I can't even get DirecTV (I don't have line of sight access to their satellites from my apartment), so if that were to happen I would be infuriated, obviously. Does anyone know how long the SportSouth and Fox Sports Net contracts to broadcast Braves games lasts?

by Jeff on Feb 13, 2007 7:50 PM EST reply actions

Bottom line

Bottom line here....if the payroll increases, then JS will have a chance to bring in help during the stretch drive of the pennant race after the All Star break, and perhaps even a chance to resign Andruw Jones. OTOH, if no payroll increase occurs, neither will happen. One would hope the finalization of the sale to Liberty might make this possible, but nobody knows yet.

A theory is floating around out there that Liberty might want to freeze the Braves' payroll if they are looking to "flip" (rapidly re-sell) the team. But the Tribune Company is thought to be shopping the Chicago Cubs franchise, and those guys are spending like crazy. So I don't think there is necessarily any sure-fire reasoning behind this.

Braves fan since 1958.

by Messenger on Feb 14, 2007 8:11 PM EST reply actions