Liberty Media President & CEO Greg Maffei, whose company owns the Braves, said yesterday that Liberty "sees no need to sell the team despite the record prices paid for other sports franchises recently," according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. Maffei said, “I have noticed -- we have noticed -- the increasing value in sports teams. And we think the Braves’ management has done a particularly good job on that front, driven incrementally by two things: first renegotiations with some of our TV deals and secondly by their … stadium in Cobb County, which we believe will have a very positive impact on asset value of the Braves." Maffei said that the '07 acquisition of the Braves from Time Warner "has proven to be a good investment ... especially when considering tax savings 'north of $300 million' that the company received in the complicated transaction." He added that selling the Braves for cash "would result in 'painful' taxes for the company." Meanwhile, Liberty execs said that the Braves have "borrowed money" for their new Cobb County ballpark. The execs "weren’t clear on how much debt the Braves have taken on." But they said it is included in $491M listed on Liberty’s financial statement as “other debt" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 2/26).
