Braves Ad Sales on FOX Sports South / SportSouth 40% Ahead of Last Year's Pace

Mar 29, 2013, 6:00am EDT

Business of Sports Summit

New Braves TV deal revs up revenues for Fox

Braves fans are not the only ones enthused about the upcoming season. Sponsors are also revved up as the result of a new TV deal putting all Atlanta Braves games on the two regional Fox networks — Fox Sports South and SportSouth.

No longer will the Braves be televised via Turner Broadcasting System Inc.’sPeachtree TV, the over-the-air channel in Atlanta that carried 45 games last season. 

Although Fox would not release specific figures, Jeff Genthner, senior vice president and general manager for Fox Sports South and SportSouth, said “ad sales are up over 40 percent compared to the same time last year and the cultivation of new clients represents over 8 percent of the Braves contracted revenue.”

Genthner said the latter figure is particularly important because “at some point, whether you are in the subscription business for a newspaper, magazine or television, you want to cultivate a new customer base.” He said the 8 percent is considered a “sizable” increase and noted Georgia-based companies YellaWood and Moe’s Southwest Grill are among the new advertisers. He added The Home Depot Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and SunTrust Banks Inc. continue to be big investors in the Braves.

According to Emmet Burns, senior vice president of marketing and brand for the SunTrust Banks, “Having two outlets as opposed to three gives fans an easier time finding the Braves games and gives us more continuity as an advertiser. FOX Sports’ [six-state] Southeastern footprint supports our home territory and broadens the footprint of our buy outside the Atlanta area.”

Another lure for advertisers is ratings. Braves telecasts on Fox Sports South and SportSouth in 2012 ranked first and second in prime-time cable in their time period and trounced (nearly 2-to-1) their nearest cable competitors. Chip Caray and Joe Simpson will continue to be the lead announcers with Dale Murphy and Tom Glavine serving as analysts for most games. Every game will feature a pre- and post-game show (“Braves LIVE”) hosted by Jerome Jurenovich with analysts Brian Jordan or Paul Byrd. 

On local games Tom Hartand Elizabeth Moreau will report from inside the clubhouse and around the park.

There will be a new, permanent “Braves LIVE” set above the Braves bullpen. A special full-hour edition of the program will air prior to the Braves opener on April 1.

While cable has largely replaced over-the-air sports telecasts, there is a danger that live sports on cable will be replaced by options such as Netflix or Hulu. Genthner says that’s not a concern, because those services rely on a delayed-broadcast model. Live sporting events are “DVR or Hulu-proof,” he added.

The concept of having games on just two networks has been in the making for a few years as Turner began to move away from the local and regional television business.

Derek Schiller, executive vice president of sales and marketing for the Braves, said, “Two years ago Turner began farming out production, sales and distribution of the Peachtree TV games to Fox. We were cognizant of that and began working to get back the 45 games for Fox, as opposed to having Turner in the middle.”

The Braves executive said ad sales success is due to the team’s winning tradition and the new TV deal. He noted having all sales and distribution under one entity “makes it much easier for the broadcast to be sold into the community.”

As to why Fox did not consolidate the telecasts onto one network, Schiller said “150 games is a lot of content for any single network to broadcast. It is not unusual, and in many respects beneficial, to have it on two different networks.” Schiller said that the ability to cross-promote the games is just one advantage.

Published reports indicate the Braves are in the sixth year of a 20-year deal with Fox, although neither Schiller nor Genthner would discuss specific terms. Schiller did say the contract for the 45 games would expire at the same time as the deal already in place for the other 105. Plans call for televising 72 games on Fox Sports South and 80 on SportsSouth.

Although still considered one of the less lucrative local TV deals in baseball, Schiller said “given what we’ve just accomplished with Fox, we are very confident we can put together a championship quality team over the course of this contract.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/03/29/new-braves-tv-deal-revs-up-revenues.html