7 hours ago - Business

Why Wall Street is betting against the Atlanta Braves

Thomas Wheatley

A baseball player wearing a black jersey and gray pants slides with hands outstretched toward a base. A player wearing a red jersey and white pants with red piping and his feet on the base is preparing to catch a ball. — The Miami Marlins' Xavier Edwards slides under the Atlanta Braves' Ozzie Albies at Truist Park in Aug. 2025. Photo: John David Mercer/Getty Images

A Major League Baseball labor dispute and the prospect of a lockout has Wall Street short sellers betting against the Atlanta Braves, Bloomberg reports.

Why it matters: The Braves are the only publicly traded professional baseball team in the United States, making the franchise one of the few places where sellers and investors can gain direct exposure to shifts and shake-ups in the sports world.

Zoom in: Braves Class C stock has climbed 34% this year, reaching a record high, and continues to draw buyers, the outlet reports.

But short interest has roughly doubled since the MLB players' union rejected the league's $245 million salary cap proposal in May, reaching as high as 6.8% of tradable shares. Shorts are essentially bets that a stock's price will fall.
That represents, Bloomberg says, a roughly $170 million bet against the Braves.

Zoom out: The league's collective bargaining agreement is set to expire Dec. 1, which would result in a lockout if owners and players can't reach a new deal.

Between the lines: If the 2027 season is disrupted, Braves stock will most likely fall, making money for the short sellers.

Flashback: In 1994, a players' strike over a salary cap led to the cancellation of the World Series.

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Why Wall Street is betting against the Atlanta Braves

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