By Andrew Bary
Reports that the San Diego Padres are near a sale to an investor group for $3.9 billion look bullish for Atlanta Braves Holdings, the only publicly traded Major League Baseball team.
The Braves' nonvoting shares $(BATRK)$ are up 17% in the past month to around $48, valuing the company at around $3.2 billion based on roughly 64 million shares outstanding (reflecting non voting K shares, voting Class A stock and supervoting Class B shares). The nonvoting stock is a better deal than the class A voting stock now around $53.
"We think the reported Padres sale is another sign of how undervalued the Braves are in the public market. Using the reported Padres price and very conservative assumptions for the owned real estate, we get to a value in the mid-$60s per share," says Jon Boyar, president of the Boyar Value Group.
"We think the Braves could be worth at least that much, and potentially more than what the Padres are going for."
The imminent deal for the Padres, reported in The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere in the media earlier in April, would be a new high for an MLB team.
The Braves are one of the most valuable teams in baseball with high attendance, strong popularity in the Southeast, a history of success on the field and an attractive real estate development around their stadium, Truist Park. The baseball revenues were about $600 million last year.
The team is viewed as one of the best-managed in all of professional sports.
Forbes, one of a few outlets that values pro sports teams, put the value of the Braves team at $3.35 billion earlier this year, a slight premium to the Padres at $3.1 billion.
Here's the math on the Braves. Assume a value of $4 billion for the team in line with the reported Padres sale price and assign a value of $1.25 billon for the real estate development known as the Battery -- the real estate value comes from the company's investor day presentation last year.
That totals $5.25 billion. Subtract net debt of around $650 million and you get a share price of just above $70 a share, Barron's estimates.
This suggests the current share price offers a nice amount of upside and a reasonable margin of safety.
The Braves are controlled by billionaire media mogul John Malone, who has a roughly 7% economic stake and 50% voting interest in the company, reflecting ownership of about one million super voting Class B shares with 10 votes each.
Malone engineered a spinoff of the Braves from his Liberty Media in 2023 and he has been in no hurry to sell the team. But two factors could prompt him to sell. He's 85, and has been cleaning up much of his empire in recent years through dealmaking.
And starting in 2027, the Braves face a sizable boost in their tax bill because certain player salaries won't be deductible under new accounting rules. That will boost the Braves expenses relative to privately held baseball clubs that won't face the same tax hit, creating incentive for a sale of the team.
Braves management hasn't quantified the impact of the tax hit.
Some think that potential buyers of baseball clubs may hold back since the current contract between owners and the players union expires at the end of this season. A strike is possible given the push among some owners for a salary cap like those in other pro sports -- a move opposed by the union.
But the Padres sale indicates that buyers are willing to pay top dollar for baseball clubs even with a strike threat. Baseball has been a laggard in franchise appreciation over the past 10 years with the average club valued at around $2.6 billion, versus $5.4 billion for NBA teams and $7.1 billion for NFL clubs. Baseball teams are the "value" stocks among pro franchises now.
A favorable contract with the players union that would impose some salary limits could narrow the gap between baseball's haves and have-nots in the sport and make baseball more competitive. That likely would make the teams more valuable.
The Braves are off to a good start in 2026 as they lead the National League East with an 18-8 record and are a good bet to contend for the league pennant.
At current prices, the stock could be a winner this year as well.
Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 23, 2026 17:57 ET (21:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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