Earnings season reveals key lessons for Atlanta Braves, Comcast and more

But perhaps the most compelling speakers were prolific sports investors. Michele Kang And Marc Lasry, who were part of a panel on the future of sport. They were very enthusiastic about the business opportunities in the sector.

“If you were an investor in Angel City in the beginning, its value today is at least 100 times greater — and it will be in four years,” Lasry said. “Believe me, you want to exercise. You will earn a lot of money.

This optimism sets the stage for a busy results season that has already offered key lessons for a number of major sports businesses.

Greg Maffei has not ruled out a sale of the Atlanta Braves.Pictures

Atlanta Braves

When Media Freedom announced in late 2022 that it would spin off the Braves as a standalone tracking stock, it immediately sparked industry-wide speculation that the team would soon be sold. There is no indication yet that Liberty management is actively trying to get rid of the team, but when Liberty Media Chairman and CEO Greg Maffei was asked about this possibility last week at MoffettNathansonAt ‘s Media, Internet & Communications conference, he did not rule out a potential sale. Maffei noted that the one-year anniversary of the Braves’ breakup was in July and said, “(It’s) a few months away, and we’ll see.” We always try to be good stewards of shareholder value, and we’ll see what gets presented and what doesn’t.

Maffei previously clarified that the split was largely intended to highlight the standalone value of the Braves business, particularly in the context of the sales processes of MLB teams in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

A key piece of the team’s value appeared in The Battery Atlanta, the $550 million mixed-use development surrounding Truist Park. In the first three months of this year, the Braves generated about $15 million in revenue and more than $2 million in operating profits – both up about 12% year-over-year. other – through retail and office leases, parking and event sponsorships. 60 acre development. The Battery generated nearly $2 million annually in new leases.

The Braves have a market cap of about $2.4 billion, roughly flat since the split was finalized 10 months ago, although it should be noted that public markets have historically undervalued the teams’ assets versus what they would sell in a private deal.

Comcast

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts also spoke at the MoffettNathanson conference, where he detailed his company’s efforts to marry a growing streaming platform, Peacock, with a linear business that has been hammered by cord-cutting. Although the two companies appear to be moving in opposite directions, with Peacock’s first-quarter revenue increasing 54% to $1.1 billion while Comcast lost 487,000 domestic video customers, Roberts argued that These were ultimately two parts of the same strategy.

“It took us less than four years to reach 34 million customers for Peacock. It took Hulu over 10 years to do the same thing,” Roberts said, highlighting how NBCUniversal’s linear networks drove subscriber growth for Peacock. “You will see it with the Olympics this summer; the best way to consume it will be on Peacock, but NBC primetime will definitely be spectacular, innovative coverage that I think will be the best we’ve ever done.

Peacock, however, continues to weigh on Comcast’s bottom line, losing $639 million in EBITDA in the first quarter. The profit challenges facing streaming platforms have led to a flurry of consolidated deals, with Roberts revealing last week that Peacock would join Apple TV+ and Netflix to launch StreamSaver, a bundled plan that will go live this month – this. And he ultimately suggested that Comcast would be patient in the long run: “One day this will correct itself.” Because with enough years of cable reduction, we will eventually only have the growing part of the business and less of the shrinking part.

Fox

In January, Fox completed the merger of its USFL with rival XFL to form the UFL, the spring football league that launched its 2024 season in March. In its recent first-quarter earnings report, Fox revealed that it recorded a gain of $170 million on the transaction. The network also revealed that it owns a 42% stake in UFL. The league had previously been billed as a 50-50 split between Fox and the XFL’s investors, which included RedBird Capital Partners, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Dany Garcia And Disney. Their exact detentions remain unclear.

Separately, Fox executive chairman and CEO Lachlan Murdoch revealed during a recent earnings call that the highly anticipated sports streaming bundle from Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery – which will be called Venu Sports – has hired “more than 150 engineers and executives” and recently launched an in-house data service. This platform should be put into service in the fall.

Participations of the TKO group

The parent company of the UFC and WWE revealed in its first quarter results that it has reached a $25 million deal to keep Raw on the USA Network until the end of the year (it will be moved on Netflix in January). It also provided a side-by-side single-quarter breakdown of the revenue streams of its two businesses. The two promotions’ total revenues were nearly identical — about $317 million for WWE versus $313 million for UFC — but WWE relies more on revenue from licensing and live events.

Also worth noting: TKO’s $250 million quarterly net loss was largely explained by its recent $335 million settlement related to an antitrust class-action lawsuit filed by UFC fighters. TKO will pay $200 million of that total this year, but it’s tax deductible, meaning TKO will also record a tax benefit of nearly $40 million.

Chris Smith writes a monthly column on financial news and trends. He can be contacted at [email protected].