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2011 Atlanta Braves Thread: Go Braves!!!

Steve Avery circa 1992:

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Wren's not going to trade JJ straight up for Seth Smith, so I don't think you need to worry about that.
 
I wish they'd become the regulars

Btw, going to Orlando/Kissimmee for spring training. Can't wait.
 
TV rights

A big story in the business of baseball this winter has been the rapidly rising rights fees for local telecasts of games. The Angels’ and Rangers’ recent TV mega-deals were credited for those teams’ expensive acquisitions of free agent first baseman Albert Pujols and Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish, respectively.

McGuirk expects the trend to continue, but said the Braves will not be in position to benefit from it in the next two decades.

“Whenever old [TV] deals are up and new deals get realized, there are big jumps in value. I have predicted that, knew it was coming,” McGuirk said. “And I think we have an undervalued local rights [deal].

“That being said, we inherited a deal that was done under [previous owner Turner Broadcasting/Time Warner] a little over four years ago, before the sale, that lasts out through 25 years. So there is no opportunity for a different deal than the one we have. Every single set of games on the different networks that we are seen on [Fox Sports South, SportSouth and Peachtree TV] are all 25-year deals or thereabouts.”

McGuirk said the deals call for “cost-of-living type increases” each year, but contain no options for renegotiation.

“They were at-market deals when they were done, but the market has changed,” he said. “We will have to look elsewhere for the increases that we will need in revenue to continue to build this franchise. It’s what the owners at the time decided to do, so we have to live with it. ... It’s nothing to be ashamed of, but it’s not going to be these newer deals where there is cash up front.”

Asked if the TV contracts will be a competitive disadvantage for the Braves over the next two decades, McGuirk said: “Let’s just say it won’t be an advantage.”

http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/terry-mcguirk-discusses-braves-1317388.html

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It sounds like they did a terrible job of negotiating the purchase of the team. They knew how onerus the TV deals were and let them stand.

Of course if the network that owned the team broadcast their games, they would have a sweetheart deal. The new owners should have upped the ante.
 
Basically they have a TV deal that is for way too long, for too little money, that confusingly spreads their games across 3 different networks. Nice work by Time Warner.
 
Seriously though, this is a huge, huge problem. The news was just sort of snuck out there in an interview about the 2012 payroll, but this TV deal could completely screw the Braves for 20 years. This is how you become the Pirates or Royals. IMO, it's the biggest Braves news in a long time. Forget about a change in ownership, this is awful.
 
Say Hey Deac said:
Seriously though, this is a huge, huge problem. The news was just sort of snuck out there in an interview about the 2012 payroll, but this TV deal could completely screw the Braves for 20 years. This is how you become the Pirates or Royals. IMO, it's the biggest Braves news in a long time. Forget about a change in ownership, this is awful.
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oh man, just read that. Facepalm
 
Ouch.

This is the saving grace for the Rays. Our current TV deal (which SUCKS) is up soon, and we have a HUGE market because it touches all of the Tampa/Orlando area as well as other areas in the state. The ratings have been really good too.

Sorry Bravos, that hurts.
 
RJKarl said:
It sounds like they did a terrible job of negotiating the purchase of the team. They knew how onerus the TV deals were and let them stand.

Of course if the network that owned the team broadcast their games, they would have a sweetheart deal. The new owners should have upped the ante.
Click to expand...

Not really that simple. The club was 'sold' in 2007 from Time Warner to Liberty Media, which held a large percentage of Time Warner shares. The TV contracts negotiated prior to and around the sale years are also with Turner subsidiaries (Peachtree TV) and with Fox Sports/FN South/Sports South which were sold right around the time of the team sale and were part of the deal structure.

So you can't really say that they did a bad job negotiating, they probably did a great job negotiating the deal as far as Time Warner was concerned. The problem is, as with many things with the Braves since 2007, that the best things for the corporate monster that owns the Braves are not always the best things for the Braves and winning.
 
Anytime you sign a 30 year contract with a pretty flat rate of compensation, with no way to opt-out, you have done an AWFUL job negotiating.

I just can't imagine what the ownership group was thinking. This is really, really shitty for the long term future of the Braves. Unless we keep getting studs from the farm system every five years, I expect the team to fade into the back end of the NL. Ugh.
 
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