Tuesday, May 12, 2026

The Battery Powers Braves Results As ‘Win-Now Team’ Plans to Spend Big

While the Braves again showed why The Battery is a sports industry model, the club said it remains a ‘win-now’ organization.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Braves are often imitated and admired for making mixed-use development a core part of their operation, and the club’s latest financial results reaffirmed why that’s the case. 

Third-quarter results released Wednesday showed that The Battery surrounding Truist Park again represented the fastest-growing part of the Braves’ business, and easily helped overcome what was the club’s first non-playoff season since 2017. 

Overall, Braves revenue grew 7% to $311.5 million during the quarter, while adjusted earnings more than doubled to $67.2 million. Revenue from the mixed-use development, however, grew 56% to $27.2 million as The Battery becomes increasingly crucial to what the Braves do. The third quarter that was reported included the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, which was, in part, a showcase for The Battery.

“What we’re doing within this organization is truly unique, not only in baseball but in all of professional sports,” said Braves chair Terry McGuirk in a call with analysts. “The continued momentum and strategic interplay between our baseball and real estate segments remains remarkable, and really reflects the long-term vision that has set the Atlanta Braves organization apart. 

“Every sports organization is trying to emulate our success in combining a stadium environment with a large, bustling mixed-use development,” McGuirk said. 

To McGuirk’s comment, virtually every major stadium and arena project in process in some fashion—including those for the Browns, Commanders, Stars, Bears, Rays, 76ers and Flyers, and one just approved for the Spurs—features a mixed-use development that is central to the entire effort.

Spending Matters

In that analyst call Wednesday, McGuirk dodged a question about the impact on MLB of the Dodgers, by far the sport’s biggest-payroll club, winning a second straight World Series. McGuirk, however, did say he intends for the Braves to be a high-spending franchise going forward and said Atlanta will be an active player in the upcoming free-agent market.

“We’ve always tried to be a leader in player compensation. Our goal is to be a top-five salary team,” McGuirk said. “We’re currently a top-10 team, and haven’t been out of that range in some time. Being back in the top five is a place I want to get to. I think we’re capable of doing that. … I think you’ll see us quite active in the free-agent market and in the trade market. We’re a win-now team.”

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