Atlanta Braves Holdings - Q2 2023

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good morning, and welcome to the Liberty Media 2023 Q2 Earnings Call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. At that time, if you have a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference will be recorded on August fourth. I would now like to turn the call over to Shane Kleinstein, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Shane Kleinstein (VP of Investor Relations)

Thank you, and good morning. Before we begin, we'd like to remind everyone that this call includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual events or results could differ materially due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those mentioned in the most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q and registration statement on Form S-4, filed by Liberty Media and Atlanta Braves Holdings with the SEC on June 8, 2023. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this call, and Liberty Media and Atlanta Braves Holdings expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Liberty Media or Atlanta Braves Holdings' expectations with regard thereto, or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

On today's call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures for Liberty Media, SiriusXM, and Atlanta Braves Holdings, including Adjusted OIBDA and Adjusted EBITDA. The required definitions and reconciliations for Liberty Media, SiriusXM, and Atlanta Braves Holdings, Schedules 1 through 3, can be found at the end of the earnings press release issued today, which is available on Liberty Media and Atlanta Braves Holdings websites. I'd like to turn the call over to Greg Maffei, Liberty's President and CEO.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Thank you. Good morning. Today, speaking on the call, we will also have Formula 1's President and Chief Executive Officer, Stefano Domenicali, Liberty's Chief Accounting Officer and Principal Financial Officer, Brian Wendling. Also during Q&A, we will be able to answer questions related to Atlanta Braves Holdings, and the Braves management will be available, too. Starting with some corporate updates, Atlanta Braves Holdings began trading as a C corp on July 19th. We believe this split off will better highlight value at the Braves and its real estate. For example, the BATRA shares and the BATRK shares are up 38% since the split announced last November. We also settled all of the remaining intergroup interests in connection with this split off. Today marks the first day of trading for our new trackers, and we expect more focused equities.

More focused equities and increased future flexibility will trade better and be easier for investors to follow. Beginning with Liberty SiriusXM, this simplified tracker consists only of an 83% interest in SIRI, cash, and debt. We continue to re-reduce debt in the second quarter, retiring the remaining $275 million of our 2.125% exchangeables for SIRI. We having the 1.8 million new batter shares at LSXM exchanged for debt retirement in the near term. We reiterate the focus on rationalizing the SIRI and LSXM structures in the near term. Looking at SiriusXM itself, it reported strong financial results with an improvement over the first quarter, as was expected. We had a sequential improvement in self-pay net adds, and we do expect a positive back half in the aggregate in self-pay net adds.

Sirius sustained a historically low churn of 1.5%, the business is focused on improved efficiency and cost structure, and that will benefit EBITDA in the coming quarters. During their announcement, SIRI increased its full-year free cash flow guidance by $50 million, up to $1.15 billion. During the quarter, we experienced continued progress on lowering the streaming cost per customer acquisition, it was down 20% over the prior year. Data shows that this app is a great accelerant for in-car conversion as well, we are making progress on our next generation SXM mobile app, which will launch this fall. Sirius is maintaining its focus on enhancing its in-car position, I'd note EV manufacturers, which are a growth area, are an area of new success for us, as demonstrated by our agreement with Volvo.

Turning to Formula 1 Group, at the corporate level, I'd remind you that the assets consist of F1 ownership and the motorsport-related assets we have, including the Vegas property. During the quarter, we effectively repurchased 1.1 million FWONA shares in settling the intergroup interests that were previously held at LSXM for $67.50 a share. At F1 itself, the number of fans engaging with F1 content across the platforms is bigger than ever. Stefano will give you more stats in a moment. To name a few, we continue to have sellouts at almost all races. The Sprint weekends are driving year-over-year growth in viewership. For example, the Spa total owner audience across race, sprint, shootout, and qualifying was up versus the Belgian GP last year. I'd note we've seen particularly solid growth in the U.S.

Viewership on ESPN is up season to date versus the 2022 average viewership, with strong F1 TV performance as well. The 2023 season has already seen 3 of the 4 largest live audiences in F1 history on U.S. TV, including Miami, Monaco, and the Canadian GPs. All but 2 of our races have averaged more than 1 million viewers. Huge numbers for the U.S. market. On the financial side, OIBDA was up slightly quarter over quarter, despite 1 less race, due to improved operating leverage on team payments and freight. Now turning to LVGP. Excitement for the race grows, as demonstrated by momentum across social platforms. For example, LVGP had over 11 million social impressions and over 1 million engagements in July. The Las Vegas team is pulling together an event of unprecedented complexity and scale.

It will be the largest, and our argument would be the most premium sporting event of 2023, and it's a view that's a testament to our Super Bowl aspirations for all our Grand Prix events. I am pleased to say preparations are running on schedule, and despite inflationary cost pressures, we expect no change in revenue and profitability assumptions that we laid out previously. We are increasing CapEx, CapEx estimates for the paddock building and track work, and Brian will go into that in more detail in a moment. We remain confident in the return profile of this incredible project, which will support the incremental capital investment that we are making. I'd note we've also been already receiving inbounds with attractive economics for use of the paddock building within the next year, and we look forward to sharing those commercial plans once they are finalized.

We expect to learn a lot from our inaugural race and look forward to racing in Las Vegas for many years to come. Turning now to Liberty Live Group. Live Nation experienced its strongest second quarter ever, and they're confident in continued growth into the balance of the year in 2024. Revenue for the quarter was up 27%, and AOI was up 23% over the prior year. Growth was driven by international demand, a real opportunity for Live. International fans were up 46%, and more artists are touring globally. Lastly, on the international front, our OCESA acquisition in Mexico is outperforming expectations. Overall, attendance and per fan profitability were both up double digits for the quarter overall at Live Nation. Turning now to the Braves. Now a separate public company, Business as usual is continuing in Braves country.

We've seen continued momentum in fan demand, having sold 56% of our ticket capacity season to date, tied for MLB's best. We've made it to 40 sellouts already, the fastest we've ever hit this milestone in a season at Truist, concession revenue is up season to date, despite shorter game times. We announced a jersey patch sponsorship with Quikrete in a multiyear deal, most importantly, on field, the Braves lead the NL East and the entire MLB. A franchise record eight players were in the All-Star Game, including our entire infield. All eight of these players are locked up through 2023 and most even longer. Excuse me, 2025, with most even longer. The Battery is also seeing continued growth. Adjusted EBITDA for the mixed-use development was up 18% in the first six months versus the prior year.

With that, I will turn it over to Brian for more on our financial results.

Brian Wendling (Chief Accounting Officer and Principal Financial Officer)

Thank you, Greg, good morning, everyone. My remarks will focus on the 6/30 balance sheet figures adjusted for the split off that was completed July 18th, and the reclassification of our tracking stocks that was completed yesterday. At quarter end and adjusted for the split off and reclassification, Liberty SiriusXM Group had attributed cash and liquid investments of approximately $331 million, which excludes $51 million of cash held at SiriusXM. There's also $1.1 billion of undrawn margin loan capacity at the parent level related to our SiriusXM margin loan. As of August 3rd, the value of our SiriusXM stock was $16 billion. We have $1.5 billion in principal amount of debt against these holdings.

Total Liberty SiriusXM Group attributed principal amount of debt is $11.7 billion, which includes $9.5 billion of debt held directly at SiriusXM. In April, Liberty SiriusXM settled the remaining $275 million of its 2.125% SIRI exchangeables. Due to the net pay down at both SiriusXM and Liberty SiriusXM during the quarter, total attributed Liberty SiriusXM Group debt was down $360 million from $331. This is exclusive of the debt reduction due to the reclassification. The 1.375% basket convertible notes mature in October, and $199 million principal remains on these notes. Liberty SiriusXM plans to exchange its $1.8 billion BATRA shares with one or more third-party lenders to pay down debt in the near term.

Turning to the Formula 1 Group, at quarter end, adjusted for the split off and reclassification, Formula 1 Group had attributed cash, liquid investments, and monetizable public holdings of $1.4 billion, which includes $1.1 billion of cash at F1. In connection with the reclassification, approximately $100 million of cash, as well as certain private and public assets previously held at Formula 1 Group, were attributed to the Liberty Live tracking stock. This includes $33 million of ETF and public assets that were liquidated prior to the reclassification and made up a portion of the $100 million of cash that was contributed over. Total Formula 1 Group attributed principal amount of debt was $3 billion, which includes $2.4 billion of debt at F1, leaving $536 million at the corporate level.

F1's $500 million revolver is undrawn and their leverage at quarter end is 2.2 times. As we mentioned last quarter, the margin on F1's Term Loan B permanently stepped down to 3% from 3.25%, effective at the beginning of May. The F1 business is best analyzed on an annual basis, given variability in the year-over-year race calendar. I will make a couple of brief remarks on their quarterly results. During the quarter, F1 recognized a lower proportion of season-based income due to six out of 22 races occurring during the period, compared to seven out of 22 that occurred in the prior year period. F1 also recognized proportionately less team payments given one less race, which was partially offset by expected increased team payments for the full year compared to 2022.

Our team payments are best viewed on a year-to-date basis and represented 63% of pre-team EBITDA in the first half of the year. Formula 1 generated modest OIBDA growth in the quarter, despite 1 less race held and incremental investments in growth initiatives that were not in the prior year period, like the Vegas race and F1 Academy, as well as costs associated with the canceled Imola race. Given Imola was canceled on the Wednesday of race week, the majority of the race-related costs with regard to planning, logistics, and setup had already been incurred. On a full year basis, we estimate the impact to Adjusted OIBDA from the cancellation of Imola is modest at less than $20 million. Reminder that other costs of F1 revenue and SG&A are best viewed as a % of total revenue.

Other costs of F1 revenue in the quarter was 24% of total revenue, consistent with our historical average. Note that the LVGP related revenues and other costs of sales will largely be incurred in the fourth quarter when the race occurs. For the quarter on SG&A, we had $7 million of costs associated with LVGP. On Vegas, as Greg already noted, there's no change to our revenue and profit expectations for the race in year one. Our Paddock building is now 85% complete. We expect CapEx related to the Vegas race, including both the Paddock building structure and track-related CapEx, to be close to $400 million, of which approximately $155 million was incurred in the first half of the year.

The majority of the CapEx spend will be incurred at the corporate level related to the Paddock building, as the land and building both sit within F1 or FLAN, separate from Formula 1. Track-related CapEx has and will be incurred at the F1 OpCo level. Our team has managed this project on a compressed timeline and in an inflationary environment. Much of our cost increase is attributed to track-related expenses incurred to be responsive to the concerns of the local community, such as minimizing disruption to businesses along the Strip. We have also invested in security enhancements and expenses incurred to ensure the quality of the fan experience with infrastructure changes to improve sight lines. We are working closely with our local Vegas partners, and the speed and efficiency with which we have completed this project is a testament to these relationships.

We are excited about our investment in Las Vegas and the associated opportunities for both the Grand Prix and year-round activities at the Paddock building. At the Liberty Live Group, adjusted for the reclassification, there is attributed cash, liquid investments, and monetizable public holdings of $204 million, which includes the ETF assets contributed from Formula 1 Group. In connection with the reclassification, the Formula 1 Group also has contributed private assets with a fair value of approximately $380 million, measured at the time of our definitive S-4 filing. We do not anticipate providing ongoing updates to the value of these private assets. Additional disclosure on the composition of these assets can be found in the asset list posted to our website.

There's $400 million of undrawn margin loan capacity at Liberty Live Group related to our Live Nation margin loan, and as of yesterday, the value of our Live Nation stock held at Liberty Live was $6 billion. We have $920 million in principal amount of debt against these holdings. Liberty and our consolidated subsidiaries are in compliance with their debt covenants at quarter end. Looking quickly at the Braves.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Let me interrupt you for one sec, Brian. As we turn to the Braves, I think I misspoke too early in the morning here, and said it was at 56 capacity, 56% capacity. The Braves stadium is actually at 96% capacity. Sorry, go ahead.

Brian Wendling (Chief Accounting Officer and Principal Financial Officer)

Thank you, Greg, for clarifying that. Looking at the Braves, revenue growth reflects that 96% capacity in the quarter, with more regular season home games in the period, as well as increased game attendance and growth in related revenues, including ticket and concession revenue. The Battery mixed-use revenue also grew due to increased rental income from existing and new tenants. Baseball operating costs grew in the second quarter, primarily due to increased player payroll, as well as increased payments under MLB's revenue sharing plan and higher variable stadium operating costs due to the increased attendance. At quarter end and adjusted for the split off, they had attributed cash and liquid investments of $131 million, which excludes $52 million of restricted cash. Atlanta Braves Holdings had attributed principal amount of debt of $543 million.

With that, I'll turn it over to Stefano to discuss Formula 1.

Stefano Domenicali (President and CEO)

Thanks, Brian. Good morning to everyone. We are already over halfway through the 2023 Formula 1 season. I would first like to congratulate Red Bull and Max Verstappen on their incredible performance this season, breaking an all-time record on consecutive wins. The title field behind them has produced incredible action for all our fans. I believe the gaps will continue to close over time for all the teams. In Silverstone, the top 6 finishers crosses the line within 13 seconds of one another. Hungary had one of the most thrilling qualifying rounds to date, with the top 6 all within three-tenths of a second. McLaren's performance improvements following recent upgrades has delighted fans with Lando's second-place podiums at Silverstone and Hungary, strong drive from Piastre. Our fans are accessing F1 content across multiple media platforms.

Global audience averaged 68 million through the first eight races. In growth market like the U.S., viewership over the same period is up 5% on ESPN. Events like Monaco had grown of 29% compared to last year's U.S. viewership. The Sprint Series have continued to both generate excitement on the track and drive viewership growth. At Azerbaijan, our first sprint of the season, total weekend viewership across the race and sprint events was up 10% versus 2022. We recognize that sport fans today engage with content across a variety of platforms, including linear, digital, and social. Across our social media channels, F1 reached 64.6 million followers as of Q2, up 29% year-over-year. F1 continues to adapt and expand our content to gather to different platforms and serve all segment of fans.

For example, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, we piloted our first ever F1 broadcast for kids in partnership with Sky U.K. and Germany. In just one day, social media coverage for the announcement of the KidCast and the presentation of the drivers' avatars reached more than 45 million users, with 93 million impression and hugely positive sentiment. F1 celebrity presence continues to be a large role of, for fans. For example, F1 social post featuring Shakira at the Spanish Grand Prix, generated over 50 million impression and over 2 million engagement. As filming for the Apple TV movie began, the post at Silverstone with Brad Pitt and Damson, Idris lining up at the back of the grid, generated 2.8 million engagement and over 7,000 comments.

The social content when Yuki Tsunoda and his AlphaTauri teammates helped the community after the flood in France, generated almost 15 million social impressions. F1 is considering how to advance our approach to audience measurement as consumer behavior evolve to better capture our wider viewership and engagement for the future. Our discussion with commercial partners successfully focus on these broader engagement metrics. The promoters continue to improve the quality of Grand Prix events and invest in enhancing the overall fan experience. We have seen the result of these efforts with continued sell-out races, many at increased capacity. The Canadian and Silverstone Grand Prix both set new attendance records with crowds of 345,000 and 480,000, respectively.

Silverstone attendance was up 20% compared to last year, in part due to cultivating fan experience across the entire race weekend, including a Calvin Harris concert on Thursdays, evening before the on-track activity started. We will continue to work with our promoters on these efforts. The success of their event is beneficial to the entire F1 ecosystem. There are growing ways to engage with F1 outside of race weekends. Our F1 Arcade licensees announced further expansion plans, with new site opening in Birmingham, in the U.K. this December, and Boston in May 2024. Football at flagship London location grew 16% in Q2 compared to the prior quarter, with an average of over 7,000 visitors per week. In June, EA launched the F1 2023 video game.

In its first week, the game ranked at two and three in U.K. games and global Steam sales chart, respectively. Finally, F1 related podcasts are increasingly providing other content to engage our fans. A new Formula 1 podcast launched in May. It reached one in the U.S. and U.K. sports podcast channel, performing particularly well among newer fan cohort, with 35% of its audience in the U.S. and 30% of its audience female. Tuning to race an update to, on our commercial agreements. On race promotion, we recently announced a further extension of Austrian Grand Prix throughout 2030. Hungary also extended through 2032, with commitments made by the promoters to invest significantly in their physical infrastructure, including a new pit building and main grandstand by 2026.

We announced a record-breaking 24 races championship calendar for 2024, with the return of the race in China for the first time since 2019. F1 is further progressing on journey towards greater regionalization of the calendar where possible, including back-to-back races in Japan and China, as well as Abu Dhabi and Qatar. This improves the efficiency of our operations and reduce unnecessary lags in our travel, particularly from a freight perspective. On media right, we enter into a multi-year agreement with Tencent to stream F1 event across its digital platform. This complements our existing coverage in China on CCTV. Additionally, we continue to grow F1 TV Pro and access subscribers with particular strength in the U.S. market. On sponsorship, Heineken extended their global partnership in a new multi-year deal.

As previously announced, they will also be the official title partners at the Formula 1 Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix. The relevance of F1 brands continues to generate interest in sponsorship opportunity, including leveraging our sustainability strategy in, and new inventory like Las Vegas. We are focused on delivering incremental values to our existing sponsors and further developing our strong pipeline of new commercial partners. We are just over three months away from the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. The Las Vegas Grand Prix will provide an unparalleled guest experience, combining the, the thrill of Formula 1 racing with premium live entertainment, musical acts, world-class culinary offering, and more. We continue to grow our fan offering with new partnerships, ensuring all partner venues meet the quality standards our fans expect and deserve.

Most recently, we were excited to announce additionally, hospitality experience, including the Heineken House, Club SI, and Club Paris, as well as a partnership with Hilton Grand Vacations to host our premier on-track hospitality suite. Musical acts including J Balvin, Major Lazer, Mark Ronson, with the headline with the T-Mobile Zone at Sphere stage, with many high-profile music and DJ acts still to be announced. The beverage brand Liquid Death was named as official event partner and will provide fans with a more sustainable alternative to single-use plastic through their beverage offerings. Formula 1 and Liberty have made a long-term commitment to race in Las Vegas and have invested meaningful capital to make it happen. The team, led by Renee Wilm, has built incredible partnership with the local community, all of whom stand to benefit from the tremendous economic value we believe Formula 1 will bring.

The Las Vegas team worked with third parties in gathering market-based data and estimated the economic impact to Las Vegas in year one of the race will be over $1.2 billion. This is an additional two meaningful community efforts focused on food insecurity, water conservation, and access to education in Southern Nevada. We are proud of the work our team is doing and are confident that Las Vegas Grand Prix will away the global sporting community this November. Finally, F1 continues to progress our sustainability and diversity and inclusion efforts. F1 Academy began its inaugural season in Austria in April and is now through six of seven races. The season finale will take place in Austin, alongside the F1 race weekend, with Marta Garcia leading the championship.

Last week, we announced that all 10 Formula 1 teams will have F1 Academy drivers and liveries for the 2024 season. This demonstrate the depth of support across the F1 community for the importance of F1 Academy grassroots initiatives. Building the next generation of young women in racing stands to provide tremendous benefit for the entire F1 ecosystem. F1 has also progressed initiatives this season in environmental sustainability. In Austria, we piloted an energy-efficient power system that delivered a 90% reduction in carbon emissions from operating the part of pit lane and F1 broadcast area. Additionally, a new fleet of bio-fueled trucks operated by DHL are delivering our broadcast production, technical and other equipment for the European events of the 2023 season, which we expect will reduce our road freight emission by a minimum of 60% compared to traditional fueled vehicles.

The Formula 2 and Formula 3 cars are successfully running on 55% advanced sustainable fuel this season. We remain on track to introduce 100% advanced sustainable fuel to Formula 1 in 2026. We are also encouraged by the increased awareness and openness of governments to include advanced sustainable fuels in their policy roadmaps to net zero, something F1 will continue to be at the forefront of pushing. We look forward to an exciting rest of the season and, of course, a well-deserved summer break for our teams. The season will resume in the Netherlands later this month before going to Monza. The gaps are getting increasingly closer within the pack on the grid. We have three months Sprint Series to come in Austin, Qatar, and Brazil.

Our business is in a position of incredible strength, both financially and commercially, and I look forward to updating you on our progress. Avanti tutta! Full speed ahead. Now I will turn the call back over to Greg. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Thanks, Stefano and Brian. Our annual investor day will be Thursday, November ninth, in New York. Please save the date. Additional details will be provided soon. We hope to see many of you there. We do appreciate your continued interest in Liberty Media and Atlanta Braves Holdings. With that, operator, I'd like to open the line for questions.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. Please hold while we poll for questions. Thank you. Our first question comes from Stephen Gagola with Cowen and Company.

Stephen Gagola (Equity Research Analyst)

Hi, thanks for the question. Greg, can you help us better understand monetization of the Las Vegas paddock outside of the Grand Prix in 2024 and beyond? What type of events do you plan on holding? You know, any early indicators on sponsorship interest outside of the Grand Prix? Do you expect this OIBDA contribution match, you know, to match or exceed the Vegas Grand Prix over time? Thank you.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

I will manage expectations first and say I do not expect it will exceed the amount we'll make on the Grand Prix over time. With that, we have Renee Wilm here, who's running our Las Vegas effort. I'll let her comment on some of the things we're thinking about outside the race.

Renee Wilm (Executive VP and General Counsel)

Thanks, Greg. Happy to. We are just beginning to really scratch the surface on what is available for us on a go-forward basis with the building. We have had a number of inbound requests. Think about Super Bowl parties, think about something relating to racing, maybe carting, high-end supercars. Of course, Las Vegas is the convention center of the world. Lots of interest in our state-of-the-art, LEED certified building. Many of our partners in the F1 ecosystem are very interested in working with us throughout the year. All I can say is a lot more to come over the next few months.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Thanks.

Stephen Gagola (Equity Research Analyst)

Thank you. If I could squeeze in one more. How should we interpret the, what appears to be some recent conflicting comments from the FIA, you know, with regards to an early renewal and then, you know, the Concorde Agreement and then the appetite of new team entrants? Maybe just, like, more high level, Greg, do you see any conflicts of interest with your vision of the sport long term versus what the FIA views?

Thank you.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Well, I'll make a comment or two, and then I'll let Stefano add. I think there's little daylight between Stefano and my view, which is, we have 10 great teams. We're very excited about what they're doing. There is a process to add more teams, but the bar is very high, and it's unclear what an 11th team value they would add, and there is a lot of uncertainty among the other teams about adding an 11th team. The FIA and we have had productive discussions about all this. Do we agree on everything, every moment? No. We, we discuss it, and we hopefully work things out. Stefano, what would you add?

Stefano Domenicali (President and CEO)

I think, Greg, you said, perfectly. I mean, the FIA started the process as it is in their possibility. We're waiting for the final conclusion, but, as always, in this discussion, we will find agreement together, because, as you said, the value of the team and the value of the business today is very, very strong. That decision, that information will come very, very soon. I would say within the month of September.

Stephen Gagola (Equity Research Analyst)

All right. Thank you both.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from Ben Swinburne with Morgan Stanley.

Ben Swinburne (Managing Director)

Thank you. Good morning. On F1, any, what's your sense of optimism about potentially signing a Concord Agreement with the teams this year, which would be a couple of years early? Stefano, when you look at the, the, the product this year, obviously being dominated by one team, how do you look at that relative to all the changes you guys have made around driving more parity into the sport? Do you see this as a step backwards or just sort of the natural way the sport evolves, you know, unpredictably over time? I just had one Braves question for you guys. You know, there's been some teams that have left Diamond and gone on to new business models in different sports.

What does that tell you, if anything, about how you think about the Braves' opportunity over the next, you know, couple of years as this Diamond process plays out? Thanks a lot.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

I'll let Stefano take the first two, and, and I'll take a shot at the Diamond question, and obviously, Derek, if you have things to add. Stefano, why don't you speak first?

Stefano Domenicali (President and CEO)

Yeah. Thanks, Greg. I mean, I would say, first of all, I think it's the right moment to celebrate the incredible job that this company is doing with that car, because if you see the other car and where the others are in term of gap, it's just incredible how Max is doing an incredible job. That has been always part of Formula 1, you know, and I would say this is part of the game. I'm pretty sure that in the next couple of years, the, the, the term of technical gaps will be reduced. If someone is great, we need to celebrate what he's doing. Sometimes I have to say, there is also the need to confirm the legacy of someone that is doing some spectacular stuff.

In, in certain markets, and maybe the new one, you can say, you, you can say that he's also putting an incredible legacy because, you know, that means something. You know, if you're able to win so many races, that means you're really a great leader. Nothing negative in that respect. If you look back, I would say this has something, this has been always part of F1 history. With regard to Concord Agreement, I would say today, conversations are, are really going ahead because the momentum of the sport is really great. Of course, we are not in a rush, but I would say that all things are heading to a positive conclusion for this discussion, both with the teams and the FIA.

Ben Swinburne (Managing Director)

Thank you.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

On the Braves, I'll give my view, and Derek, please feel free to add. We're blessed to have an incredibly strong territory. 14 million broadband households, a fan base, which is very appreciative of a very successful team, and with a reasonable deal on what we are paid by Diamond, or Bally, we think we are probably the most profitable RSN they have. Some of the other ones were less attractive, either territories or less attractive fan bases or relatively less attractive revenue versus cost to Bally. This is why in the bankruptcy proceedings, they were terminated as executory contracts by Bally. I don't anticipate that that will happen for us because we have, for all the reasons I cited above.

I do think if it does happen, there will be other alternatives because of the strength of our product and the demand in our territory for. That will generate us positive returns. Derek, you want to add anything?

Derek Chang (Director)

Greg, thanks. You said it very well. I would just comment that, first of all, we and Bally Sports are both adhering to the terms of our agreement as we currently stand. We are being paid in full, and we are delivering our rights in full. We don't, don't see that changing anytime soon. Just generally, let me just tell you, live sports content continues to be very desirable. We think long-term, and this is a, a, a good position regardless of what happens.

Ben Swinburne (Managing Director)

You guys want to comment on the Mets season to date? Just kidding. Have a good day.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

No, thank you. Next question.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from Vijay Jayant with Evercore.

Vijay Jayant (Senior Managing Director)

Hi, good morning. A couple for me. On, on Liberty Live, Greg, some of those private assets that were moved from Formula 1, are there any ATBs there? Just broadly, you know, you have some liquidity at Liberty Live, is there any business strategy of buying venues or, you know, doing some stuff with Live Nation directly in, in growing sort of a, a real estate portfolio or anything? Or is it purely to, you know, tackle any discounts if that sort of remains? On Formula 1, you know, don't need to want to nitpick particularly, but, you know, the team payments, again, seem to be a little lower than I would've thought, and sort of implies like a $1.3 billion. I, I know you said in the past that you are conservative. I know there was one less race. Is, is, is there any stuff in the numbers that sort of impact the 2022 estimate?

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Okay, Vijay. A lot to unpack there. Thank you. On, on Liberty Live, look, I think we are looking there, there is no ATB currently in that business, to start. We are looking for businesses in there which we think will be accretive and fit well, potentially, with the Live Nation strategy. We'd like to do things which were additive to us and potentially to them in the future. That gives us a wide latitude, but real estate certainly is on the list of things we think could be attractive, particularly real estate, which is anchored by Live Nation events. You know, our liquidity there is relatively light, so we'll have to be creative about the ways we do that, but we have some ideas. Turning to Formula 1, I'd note a couple of things.

I think in general, how we look at the rest of the year, we feel good about where things stand, very good. Some of the analysis about how payments were done and where it would flow between the third and fourth quarters, I think in general, we looked at our analysts as being slightly optimistic on three and slightly pessimistic on four. The nature of the payouts, as you rightly noted, is it's conservative. The timing of how the races fall impacts the payouts. Brian, what would you add?

Brian Wendling (Chief Accounting Officer and Principal Financial Officer)

Yeah, I would just say the other, the other thing, that there, there's noise in the second quarter because of the rephasing and the impact of Imola. I would just have you look at the, the first, two quarters together and look at that percentage. As we said in the, in our remarks, we were at 63%.

Vijay Jayant (Senior Managing Director)

Great. Thank you both.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Thank you, Vijay.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from Bryan Kraft with Deutsche Bank.

Bryan Kraft (Managing Director)

Hey, Greg, I had a couple for you on Liberty Sirius. I guess, first, a question that many investors often ask is, why Liberty hasn't made its Sirius shares available for borrow so that the market can be more efficient around that spread. Would love to hear, if you wouldn't mind sharing, the rationale behind your decision not to do that. The second question is, I understand that leverage is a sensitivity in a potential merger of Liberty Sirius with SiriusXM. Would it make sense for Liberty Sirius to sell some of its SIRI shares down to get closer to the 80% level? You kind of stay above the 80, but bring some cash in and then use that to reduce debt of Liberty Sirius.

Are there any restrictions or considerations, preventing you from doing that or discourage you from doing that? Thank you.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Yeah. I will let Ben Oren, if you're on, Ben, I think you are, answer the first one after. I'll answer the second first. I think that strategy, you know, we are concerned or not concerned about the leverage. I think SIRI could support the leverage of the combined businesses, to be clear. It might depend on how that was executed in terms of who bought whom, but I think in general, SIRI can support that leverage. I don't like the idea, and I think, we at Liberty don't like the idea, of trying to sell some shares because we have very low tax basis in those. It would be very tax inefficient. As I said, I think we can support the combination. We are continuing to look at ways to re- you know, manage our leverage.

We do get dividends out of SiriusXM, and from time to time, they have paid special dividends. In general, over the last year plus, we've been applying that to reducing leverage. I don't like the tax inefficient. We have very low basis in those shares. Ben, do you want to address the borrow issue?

Ben Oren (SVP and Treasurer)

Yeah, sure. You know, while we're very sympathetic to the borrow issue because it, it does create a lot of volatility, we've done a lot of work internally and with lawyers on the ability to actually lend out our shares. I think at this time, I'll probably just summarize to say there are, there are legal, there are different tax considerations to how any borrow facility or borrow of our shares would have to be structured, that would make it relatively inefficient for any, you know, potential user.

For now, you know, that coupled with the, the optics that, you know, to the extent that we were going to lend out our shares, you know, what would the borrower be doing with those shares, is, is probably why we will reluctantly not lend our shares, for the time being. We'll continue to look at it, and if any of the legal or tax considerations, alleviate, you know, never say never.

Bryan Kraft (Managing Director)

Got it. Thanks to you both. Appreciate it.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from David Karnovsky with JPMorgan.

David Karnovsky (Managing Director)

Hi, thank you. On the increased CapEx for Vegas, can you just remind us what the original projection was for Paddock? Maybe expand a bit on the drivers of the increased spend. Then just on race promo, I'm curious.

Revenue was up versus last year in Q2. That's with the same mix of races, minus Imola. Just wanted to see if you could comment on the drivers there. Were there any one-offs or kind of material step ups that we could be aware of? Thanks.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Brian, do you want to take the CapEx?

Brian Wendling (Chief Accounting Officer and Principal Financial Officer)

Yeah, I would, I would say on the CapEx, we never officially gave a number. We said it, it approximated or was slightly higher, than the, the land purchase value.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

We still have not given a firm number. We've just told you that we now think it will be larger than the amount that we're spending on the land.

Brian Wendling (Chief Accounting Officer and Principal Financial Officer)

Yeah, approximating 400 is what we said.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Can you repeat the second question just to make sure I followed it?

David Karnovsky (Managing Director)

Yeah, sure. Just with the CapEx, if you could expand on, on just the, the drivers of the increase, that'd be great. On the second question, it was on race promo.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Renee, do you want to comment on the drivers?

Renee Wilm (Executive VP and General Counsel)

Yes, I'm happy to. We've entered into two challenges as we've uncovered asphalt. Cables under the ground that needed to be addressed, there have been wires overhead that have needed to be moved. A lot of this was driven by the request and, quite honestly, requirements of the local stakeholders as we began this process of, you know, preparing the track for actual usage. We've also encountered some additional requests from the local stakeholders, such as the casino properties, around enhanced security, around opening and closing the track. This has led to additional equipment that was needed, as well as just additional actual roadwork. Of course, with regard to the paddock building, it is being built at lightning speed, in an inflationary environment.

As you can imagine, there have also been some additional costs along the way in that regard.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Great, thanks, Renee. To your second question about timing and, and revenue recognition, maybe you could repeat it, please.

David Karnovsky (Managing Director)

Sure. It was just on race promo. The press release had noted it was up year-over-year, and I think you had the same number, sorry, same mix of races minus Imola. Just wanted to see if you could comment on the drivers there, if there were any one-offs or material step ups to be aware of.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

No, I mean, it's just, it's just regular contractual increases there, offset by the impact of the Imola race going away.

David Karnovsky (Managing Director)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our next question comes from Stephen Laszczyk with Goldman Sachs.

Stephen Laszczyk (Equity Research Analyst)

Hi, great, thank you. Maybe for Greg and Renee on Las Vegas, I, I appreciate the focus for year one as this fan experience, but maybe thinking into years two and beyond, are there any opportunities around the GP that have come more into focus over the last six months that you're particularly excited about, but, but might not be able to fit in time for this November? Just trying to think through the long-term vision and, and the profitability opportunity around Las Vegas compared to what we might see in year one. Thank you.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Yeah, I think we, we, we touched on some of this. I think both on the revenue side and the cost side, there will be opportunities both around the GP and outside the GP as we go into year two. We moved with lightning speed, the F1 team, Renee's team, to put this in place, and that's probably led to increased costs, and it's also meant that there are opportunities we had to not capitalize on, whether it be, you know, fan festivals, whether it be sporting events, whether it be music events, all of those things that are potentially can grow around the second and beyond GP. So, those are all GP-related items, and I think we already touched on the fact...

Renee touched on some of the things outside the GP that people are interested in, but I don't think we have more to talk about today in terms of numbers.

Stephen Laszczyk (Equity Research Analyst)

Got it. Thank you.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Thank you. This is our last question, operator?

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Our last question comes from [Marlene Carrero] with Bank of America.

Speaker 14

Hi, thank you for taking my question. just quickly on, you know, Sirius, Liberty SiriusXM, is there, you know, sort of a, a target or, you know, an amount of, of debt you're looking to get down over the next year?

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Well, I think I touched on this a little earlier. We are, you know, have looked at many perturbations and potential combinations with SiriusXM. All of them would involve, in one form or another, adding the debt that's at LSXM to the SXM debt, and in some cases, taking on incremental debt. There, there is no particular target because we don't know exactly what path it will follow. SiriusXM is a massive cash flow generator. One of the reasons why we're not particularly interested in selling our stock. We're bullish on the prospects for the business and its continued ability to generate that cash.

Any combination, though, it might have, for a short period of time, a relatively high leverage amount or leverage, you know, 4-5x, we know that that cash flow generating capabilities would allow the combined entity to pay that debt down back to the 3.5 target relatively quickly.

Speaker 14

Got it. Are there any factors... I mean, I think, you know, for the most part, you know, most think a, a combination would occur and, and, you know, perhaps make sense. You know, are there any factors to consider as to why maybe a combination wouldn't happen?

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Well, I think you'll have a independent committee at SiriusXM, which will negotiate on behalf of their shareholders and their considerations, and you'll have Liberty representing LSXM, and hopefully, there'll be a meeting of the minds. There's always the potential that there is not an agreement between the two parties.

Speaker 14

Got it. I'll leave it there. Thank you.

Greg Maffei (President and CEO)

Thank you very much to all our questioners. Thank you very much for all of you on the line, for your interest in Liberty Media. We look forward to speaking with you again next quarter, if not sooner. I think we're done, operator. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

This conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time.