Our weekly update on the business of the Braves:
Ticket prices: The Braves have the third cheapest average ticket price in Major League Baseball this season, according to Team Marketing Report's annual survey of MLB prices. The survey puts the average price of Turner Field seats at $19.14, far below the MLB average of $28.94 and lower than all teams except the Diamondbacks ($17.98) and Padres ($16.37).
The Red Sox have baseball’s most expensive tickets at an average of $52.34, followed by the Yankees, Cubs, Phillies and Nationals, according to the survey.
Team Marketing Report also annually calculates a “fan cost index” for each team, defined as the average cost to take a family of four to a game. The Braves’ fan cost index is $174.06, MLB’s seventh lowest. The index includes four tickets, two beers, four soft drinks, four hot dogs, parking and two caps.
The survey excludes premium seats, defined as those that come with at least one added amenity, from the calculation of average ticket price.
The Braves’ average ticket price is expected to rise when the team moves to Cobb County in 2017, in part because new stadiums almost always bring higher prices and in part because of a lower seating capacity (SunTrust Park’s 41,500 vs. Turner Field’s 50,000).
Ownership: Braves owner Liberty Media disclosed in a recent filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that the company's president and CEO, Greg Maffei, received total compensation of $41.4 million last year. That included $36.7 million in option awards.
TV ratings: Sunday's game at Toronto drew the highest local TV rating so far on the Braves' ongoing trip, 3.1. Friday's game at Toronto posted a 3.0 rating, and Saturday's dipped to 1.3. The first two games of this week's series against the Mets in New York drew ratings of 2.3 and 2.4. The rating is the percentage of homes in the Atlanta market tuned in on average.
