"Miami" Marlins stadium approved!

[BaltimoreTerp]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090323&content_id=4055912&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb&partnerId=rss_mlb

Miami-Dade County commissioners on Monday put to rest more than a decade-long quest by voting in favor of a retractable-roof ballpark for the Marlins on the Orange Bowl grounds. Commissioners cast two separate votes, the first came back, 9-4, and the second was 10-3.

Since winning the World Series in 1997, three separate Marlins owners have sought a baseball-only facility. Now that will become a reality. The next step is moving toward breaking ground by July in hopes of getting the building open by 2012.

...

The retractable-roof park will seat 37,000 on the Orange Bowl grounds in the Little Havana section of Miami.

Moving into their own home is part of rebirth of the franchise. When the team begins playing at the Orange Bowl, it will be renamed the Miami Marlins. The club's lease at the park is 35 years.

Fantastic news. After all that franchise has gone through, they deserve this.

[GnatsFan]

The franchise deserves this... the fans however? :scratchchinhmm:

They better show up. :cussing:

[BaltimoreTerp]

The franchise deserves this... the fans however? :scratchchinhmm:

They better show up. :cussing:

I think they will, as long as the current players aren't sold off as a prelude.

That's always been the biggest problem down there: the fans have been screwed-over more than once.

[NewMarketSean]

Might get a little better but Miami is a crappy sports town IMO.

[TyCobb]

Might get a little better but Miami is a crappy sports town IMO.

I agree. I don't see fans flocking to see the team play because of a stadium.

Wasn't Miami fearful of having their playoff game blacked out because they could not sellout their playoff game tickets?

[TGO]

Might get a little better but Miami is a crappy sports town IMO.

You say this every time the Marlins come up but I don't really agree with it. The Heat draw very well. The Dolphins only filled 87% of capacity this year but they play in a huge, somewhat poorly-located stadium. They still averaged 65k per game. That would be about 94% of M&T Bank capacity, for comparison.

U of M does not draw well but it's not a big school compared to say Maryland or Michigan or Florida State. It's 8-10,000 undergrads, not 30-40,000. How many people go to MD games who aren't affiliated in some way with the school? Some, sure, but not many. That they manage to draw 40k per game is pretty impressive.

[DrungoHazewood]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090323&content_id=4055912&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb&partnerId=rss_mlb

Fantastic news. After all that franchise has gone through, they deserve this.

The lesson here is that 12 years of schizophrenic ownership, threats, firesales, petulant fits, blackmail, the wooing of San Antonio and Las Vegas, underhanded franchise swaps, and a determined effort to reach the minimum possible payroll can get you hundreds of $millions in taxpayer funds, too. Even in the midst of a big recession.

Go MLB monopoly!

[NewMarketSean]

You say this every time the Marlins come up but I don't really agree with it. The Heat draw very well. The Dolphins only filled 87% of capacity this year but they play in a huge, somewhat poorly-located stadium. They still averaged 65k per game. That would be about 94% of M&T Bank capacity, for comparison.

U of M does not draw well but it's not a big school compared to say Maryland or Michigan or Florida State. It's 8-10,000 undergrads, not 30-40,000. How many people go to MD games who aren't affiliated in some way with the school? Some, sure, but not many. That they manage to draw 40k per game is pretty impressive.

Sorry, but if you're a winning NFL team, and the Dolphins were in 2008, there is no excuse to not sell out all home games. They've had this problem before, during winning seasons so it's not something that happened when the team started losing.

When the Marlins were winning WS, they weren't drawing much more than 30,000 to playoff games. Pathetic.

I did say that the Marlins might be better off in a downtown stadium with a roof and becoming a team more identified with Miami. So maybe things will change.

But Miami definitely does have attendance problems for being such a huge city and it would rank in the bottom half on my list of sports cities.

[DrungoHazewood]

Sorry, but if you're a winning NFL team, and the Dolphins were in 2008, there is no excuse to not sell out all home games. They've had this problem before, during winning seasons so it's not something that happened when the team started losing.

When the Marlins were winning WS, they weren't drawing much more than 30,000 to playoff games. Pathetic.

I did say that the Marlins might be better off in a downtown stadium with a roof and becoming a team more identified with Miami. So maybe things will change.

But Miami definitely does have attendance problems for being such a huge city and it would rank in the bottom half on my list of sports cities.

Does it matter anymore? More than half of MLB revenues is from non-attendance related sources, and that's increasing all the time. I'm sure the NFL is in a similar situation.

The Marlins could have covered their entire 2008 payroll just with revenue sharing payments.

[NewMarketSean]

Does it matter anymore? More than half of MLB revenues is from non-attendance related sources, and that's increasing all the time. I'm sure the NFL is in a similar situation.

The Marlins could have covered their entire 2008 payroll just with revenue sharing payments.

It matters when some national outlet ran their "best sports cities" in America and Miami was ranked ahead of Baltimore. That just irks me.

[zff4]

I'm happy for the Miami fans but saddened by the continued gullibility of county, city and state governments.

MLB is posting skyrocketing record profits in the multiple of billions and can certainly, and should, fund their own venues or construct agreements locally beneficial to the taxpayers.

The financial breakdown on the $634 million stadium plan is top-heavy for the county. Miami-Dade is on the hook for $297 million from tourist taxes, another $50 million from a separate bond referendum, and $12 million for road and utility repairs, will spend $94 million on the parking structures, $13 million toward stadium construction, and $12 million for other improvements.

Marlins are on the hook for $119 million and repaying a $35 million loan from the county.

The vast majority of private and academic studies have shown the taxpayers don't benefit in proportion to their investment, the bulk of which is returned to MLB.

It's a farce for the taxpayers.

[DrungoHazewood]

It matters when some national outlet ran their "best sports cities" in America and Miami was ranked ahead of Baltimore. That just irks me.

Meh... whatever. "National outlet" is code for "I had a printing press before this internet thing happened."

Start at thread in the MLB section doing your own ranking. It'll be just as valid.

[srock]

I'm very happy to hear this. Living in South Florida, I have grown to despise stupid Dolphin stadium. A nice little stadium in the city near mass transit and things people actually want to be around should be a nice springboard for a section of town in need of some infrastructure.

Hope they don't screw it up.

[TyCobb]

I'm happy for the Miami fans but saddened by the continued gullibility of county, city and state governments.

MLB is posting skyrocketing record profits in the multiple of billions and can certainly, and should, fund their own venues or construct agreements locally beneficial to the taxpayers.

The financial breakdown on the $634 million stadium plan is top-heavy for the county. Miami-Dade is on the hook for $297 million from tourist taxes, another $50 million from a separate bond referendum, and $12 million for road and utility repairs, will spend $94 million on the parking structures, $13 million toward stadium construction, and $12 million for other improvements.

Marlins are on the hook for $119 million and repaying a $35 million loan from the county.

The vast majority of private and academic studies have shown the taxpayers don't benefit in proportion to their investment, the bulk of which is returned to MLB.

It's a farce for the taxpayers.

This deal gives a lot of jobs for the area during this recession. Also they will be making a lot of money once the stadium is actually up and selling beer and other taxed items. There is a reason why cities want sports teams. They increase the tax revenue.

[RShack]

As I said in another thread, I'm happy that it will be the "Miami Marlins" again, like the MiL teams were.

Calling the expansion team the "Florida Marlins" was kinda like if they had changed the name of the St Louis Browns to the "Maryland Orioles". The "Miami Marlins" name didn't have nearly as much history as the name "Baltimore Orioles" did, but it was very much a local team name that preceded the current franchise. I'm glad that's getting fixed. (Small pleasures.)