Good morning. This is Leadoff, the early buzz in Atlanta sports.
After Liberty Media's CEO answered questions at an investor conference for 30 minutes Wednesday about the company's various businesses — mostly about auto-racing series Formula 1 and satellite radio provider SiriusXM — he fielded a final question about its baseball team.
Greg Maffei was asked for his over/under on wins by the Braves this season.
“I think it’ll be a winning season,” the Liberty CEO said.
That would require at least 82 wins — significantly more than the over/under on Braves wins set by the Atlantis Casino (71.5) and the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook (75.5), or the win totals projected by FanGraphs (73) and Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA system (76).
“Can’t lose with the new stadium,” Maffei added.
That brief exchange marked the only time he was asked about the Braves during an appearance at a Morgan Stanley conference in San Francisco.
The day before, Maffei had more to say about the Braves when Liberty reported financial results for 2016. He addressed these topics:
“The sod goes in this week at SunTrust Park”
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In discussing Formula 1 racing — recently acquired by Liberty Media for $4.4 billion — at Wednesday's conference, Maffei said there is potential for fast growth in sponsorship revenue. He made the point with a comparison to Major League Baseball.
“MLB has 80 people working in sponsorship, has 75 sponsors, virtually all in the United States,” he said. “In contrast, Formula 1 with its 21 countries has one person working full-time in sponsorship, two people working part-time and has 17 sponsors, including no technology sponsor. … It seems like an obvious hole, and there are just other holes along the way. We don’t have a soft-drink sponsor.
“There are just big holes and opportunities for sponsorship up front.”
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Three days until the first game of Atlanta United's inaugural season.
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At the NFL scouting combine Wednesday, Falcons coach Dan Quinn was asked, of course, about blowing a 25-point lead in a devastating Super Bowl loss.
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Take a look at the fate that awaits the Georgia Dome.
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