Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Leases

v3.19.2
Leases
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2019
Leases  
Leases

(10)   Leases

In February 2016, the FASB issued new accounting guidance on lease accounting. This guidance requires a company to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities arising from operating leases in the statement of financial position. Additionally, the criteria for classifying a lease as a finance lease versus an operating lease are substantially the same as the previous guidance. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company adopted the new guidance, which established Accounting Standards Codification Topic 842 (“ASC 842”), effective January 1, 2019, and elected the optional transition method that allows for a cumulative-effect adjustment in the period of adoption. Results for reporting periods beginning after January

1, 2019 are presented under the new guidance, while prior period amounts were not adjusted and continue to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods.  

We elected certain of the available transition practical expedients, including those that permit us to not reassess (1) whether any expired or existing contracts are leases or contain leases, (2) the lease classification for any expired or existing leases, and (3) initial direct costs for any existing leases as of the effective date. We elected the hindsight practical expedient, which permits entities to use hindsight in determining the lease term and assessing impairment. The most significant impact of the new guidance was the recognition of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities for operating leases. In addition, the Company elected the practical expedient to account for the lease and non-lease components as a single component and will not recognize right-of-use assets or lease liabilities for short-term leases, which are those leases with a term of twelve months or less at the lease commencement date.

The effect of the adoption on our consolidated balance sheets as of January 1, 2019 for the adoption of ASC 842 is as follows:

Balance at December 31, 2018

Adjustments due to ASC 842

Balance at January 1, 2019

in millions

Assets

Other current assets

$

360

(2)

358

Property and equipment, at cost

$

3,765

(371)

3,394

Accumulated depreciation

$

(1,296)

15

(1,281)

Other assets

$

1,861

396

2,257

Liabilities and Equity

Current portion of debt

$

17

(4)

13

Other current liabilities

$

32

36

68

Long-term debt

$

13,371

(1)

13,370

Other long-term liabilities

$

864

9

873

Retained earnings

$

13,644

(2)

13,642

The Company and its subsidiaries lease a baseball stadium and facilities, business offices, satellite transponders and equipment. Operating lease right-of-use assets and operating lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value of the future lease payments using our incremental borrowing rate at the commencement date of the lease.

Our leases have remaining lease terms of 1 year to 40 years, some of which may include the option to extend for up to 10 years, and some of which include options to terminate the leases within 1 year.

Braves Holdings’ baseball stadium was historically accounted for as a financing obligation under the build-to-suit lease guidance. The transition guidance for a build-to-suit lease arrangement requires the lessee to derecognize the assets and liabilities that were recognized solely as a result of a transaction’s build-to-suit designation under the previous accounting guidance, with any difference recorded as an adjustment to equity as of the adoption date. Braves Holdings then applied the general lessee guidance under the new standard to the baseball stadium lease, including classifying it as a finance lease, and recorded a right-of-use asset and lease liability on the balance sheet, which has been initially measured at the present value of the remaining lease payments over the lease term.

The components of lease expense during the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 were as follows:

Three months ended

Six months ended

June 30, 2019

June 30, 2019

in millions

Finance lease cost

Depreciation of leased assets

$

16

18

Interest on lease liabilities

2

3

Total finance lease cost

18

21

Operating lease cost

25

44

Sublease income

(1)

(2)

Total lease cost

$

42

63

The remaining weighted-average lease term and the weighted average discount rate were as follows:

June 30, 2019

Weighted-average remaining lease term (years):

Finance leases

29.6

Operating leases

10.1

Weighted-average discount rate:

Finance leases

4.6%

Operating leases

5.2%

Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows:

June 30,

2019

in millions

Operating leases:

Operating lease right-of-use assets (1)

$

487

Current operating lease liabilities (2)

$

54

Operating lease liabilities (3)

457

Total operating lease liabilities

$

511

Finance Leases:

Property and equipment, at cost

$

494

Accumulated depreciation

(85)

Property and equipment, net

$

409

Current finance lease liabilities (2)

$

9

Finance lease liabilities (3)

119

Total finance lease liabilities

$

128

(1) Included in Other assets in the condensed consolidated balance sheet
(2) Included in Other current liabilities in the condensed consolidated balance sheet
(3) Included in Other liabilities in the condensed consolidated balance sheet

Supplemental cash flow information related to leases was as follows:

Six Months Ended

June 30, 2019

in millions

Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:

Operating cash flows from operating leases

$

42

Financing cash flows from finance leases

$

8

Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations:

Operating leases

$

36

Future minimum payments under noncancelable operating leases and finance leases with initial terms of one year or more at June 30, 2019 consisted of the following:

Finance leases

Operating leases

in millions

Remainder of 2019

$

5

33

2020

11

81

2021

10

69

2022

9

65

2023

9

62

Thereafter

173

351

Total lease payments

217

661

Less: implied interest

89

150

Present value of lease liabilities

$

128

511