The Braves’ local TV deal "isn’t as bad as widely believed," as an exec from team owner Liberty Media "disclosed much higher annual figures when asked about the team’s local TV deal at a recent conference," according to Tim Tucker of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. During a presentation at the Moffett Nathanson Media & Communications Summit in N.Y. last month, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei said the annual TV deal is worth $83M annually, possibly rising to $113M by '27, the last year of the deal. Although many Braves fans "will be surprised" by an $83M figure for this year, Maffei still "considers the deal to be well below market value for a team whose telecasts are available across a large six-state territory" on FS South and FS Southeast. Maffei: "We knew that when we bought (the Braves) from Time Warner. It was one of the longest and lowest." Tucker notes it is "not known where the Braves’ deal now ranks among the 30 MLB teams." However, a "significant number" of other teams reportedly have deals averaging more than $100M annually for local TV rights. Still, it seems likely that $83M would "rank at least around the middle of the pack among MLB teams in local TV revenue this year" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 6/7).
