Recapping five stories about Atlanta sports business in the past week:
1. Liberty Media CEO on Braves: On a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Greg Maffei said the Braves "have had disappointing on-field results this season," but he added that the team "enjoyed great success" in the draft and international signing period. Full story here.
2. Braves' financial results disclosed: Liberty Media, the Braves' owner, said the team's financial performance improved in the second quarter this year, thanks to having nine more home games in the April-June period than last year. Primarily because of the schedule variation, quarterly revenue was up $28 million and operating profit before depreciation and amortization up $7 million from the same period last year. Full story here.
3. Later game time at SunTrust Park: The Braves will move the starting time of their weeknight home games to 7:30 p.m. next season, the team announced. The new start time, pushed back from 7:10 for games on Monday through Thursday nights at Turner Field this season, is intended to help alleviate evening rush-hour traffic issues. Full story here.
4. A key Mercedes-Benz Stadium hire: An executive from MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Giants and Jets, has been hired as director of stadium operations for Atlanta's new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. David Duernberger, a 30-year veteran of the facility-management industry, had been with MetLife Stadium as vice president of facility operations since its opening. Full story here.
5. Tracking Falcons' stadium costs: The Falcons made another $9.1 million worth of changes to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in June. The latest project status report by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority says the Falcons organization had "issued change orders" to general contractor Holder Hunt Russell Moody "in the cumulative amount of $208.6 million for various scope changes" through June. That's up from the previously reported $199.5 million in change orders through May. Full story here.
