NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — Earlier this week, the Atlanta Braves became the only publicly traded in franchise in Major League Baseball.
They did so in grand style too, as Braves President and CEO Derek Schiller and other Braves executives took the trip to New York City on Wednesday to ring the Nasdaq opening bell.
It signified the team now being on the open stock market, as "Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc." now trades on Nasdaq under the two tickers BATRA and BATRK.
The Braves stock first became publicly available on July 19, however.
The move comes as a result of a business move by Liberty Media, the parent company of the Braves, earlier this week. Liberty split the Braves off from the rest of its properties to create Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc. The split came roughly eight months after Liberty Media announced they were going to split the team back in November.
Atlanta Braves Holdings Series A and Series C common stock have been approved for listings beginning with the open of markets on Wednesday, according to the release. The Series A stock will trade under the ticker "BATRA" and the Series C stock will trade under the ticket "BATRK."
BATRA is currently trading at $45.70 as of Friday night, while BATRK is trading for a few dollars less right now at $39.55.
Speaking on July 18 about the new business arrangement, Braves President Derek Schiller said it wouldn't disrupt the team's operations but could give fans an opportunity to feel a new level of investment in the team.
"If you're a fan of this team, you can also become an owner of the team," he said. "You know, you can own stock, and that in a way is very exciting. So while I don't think that translates to necessarily some sort of change in the way we're gonna operate our business, I think it maybe creates even a further connection that fans can have with their team."
The Braves are just the second team in baseball history to become publicly traded. The then-Cleveland Indians became available on the open market for a short period of time on Nasqad in the late 1990s. The Toronto Blue Jays are owned by the city-based Rogers Communications, which has owned the team since 2000. The company is publicly traded, but the team is not.
How to buy Atlanta Braves stock
If you're interested in buying some of the team's stock, you can do so through any standard stock-purchasing method, including personal trading platforms like ETrade or Robinhood or through your broker if you use one.
