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Marlins Might Leave South Florida?
That's the news coming out of the Sun-Sentinel and the Miami Herald this afternoon. Unable to sign a deal with the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County, the team may be looking elsewhere.
Being a big baseball fan and season ticket pool organizer at my job, this is not good news at all.
Who's at fault here? If you ask Dan LeBatard at the Herald, it's the "bad" baseball fans of South Florida. We deserve every bit of this, he says.
Well, it's not that simple Danny boy.
Could the attendance and fan support in the stands be better? Sure. But so can a lot of other things that LeBatard declines to mention or dismisses as "excuses". The weather here during much of baseball season is not the best, with rain and even the odd hurricane or two an ever-present threat. Add to this the location of the stadium, which is in the middle of the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale metro area but might as well be the middle of nowhere, and most potential fans just don't want to make the long, grinding haul in South Florida traffic to get to the stadium and get rained on. I live in Kendall, and it's an easy hour drive to the stadium for a weeknight game. A better location and a baseball-only facility would help tremendously. The proposed site, the Orange Bowl in Little Havana, would've been OK, but not ideal.
Dan LeBatard feels bad for owner Jeffery Loria because he's losing so much money. Cry me a river. Loria was given a loan by Major League Baseball to purchase the franchise a few years back. Does anyone actually think he's going to go broke because the team is losing money? All he has to do is either sell the team or move it, and he's good to go. Another option for Loria is to have the taxpayers foot most of the bill for a new stadium. When he bought the team, he was very aware of the awful lease which the stadium is under (thanks Wayne Huizenga). A new baseball only stadium would have the money flowing into his pockets big time. Apparently, the team is upset at city and county officials for not making up the gap in the funding.
About funding and money...the city and county have pledged enough, almost $50 percent. The rest needs to be handled by the Marlins. It's revealing to note that one of the big hangups in the deal early on was that the Marlins were reluctant to cover any over-budget charges to build the stadium. The city and county demanded that the team cover those costs, and they finally and
reluctantly agreed. By all accounts, except theirs, the Marlins have been grossly under-estimating the cost of the new stadium. They are unwilling to give another cent and are expecting the taxpayers to make up the difference. One problem, the taxpayers don't want to pay another cent, according to numerous surveys and polls. I agree.
Jeffrey Loria has the most to gain from a new stadium, let him pay the rest. We've already promised more than enough. A new stadium with all the bells and whistles in a good location will be a hit, I guarantee it. We have a lot of latent fan support here who simply can't go to many games because of location, economics, etc. The economic part won't change, but give someone a nice stadium with a retractable roof in an attractive location, and they will come.
The problem with baseball today is that owners pretty much hold their communities hostage until they get a good stadium deal (i.e. one in which they pay as little as possible). It's their product, let them pay for it.
OK, now that you know how I stand on the stadium issue, I am here to say that I as a season ticket holder would be willing to pay an extra few bucks per ticket to cover the stadium construction. If anyone other than the team should pay, it's the season ticket holders, the ones who will actually attend the games, although relatively little compared to the overall cost.
As a community, South Florida needs to have the Marlins leave as much as we need another hurricane. Sports add to the culture and quality of life, just as museums, art, and music do. Imagine New York without the Yankees, Chicago without the White Sox (you were expecting Cubs, weren't you?). Our already trashed reputation and perception would take another huge and undeserved hit.
Being a big baseball fan and season ticket pool organizer at my job, this is not good news at all.
Who's at fault here? If you ask Dan LeBatard at the Herald, it's the "bad" baseball fans of South Florida. We deserve every bit of this, he says.
Well, it's not that simple Danny boy.
Could the attendance and fan support in the stands be better? Sure. But so can a lot of other things that LeBatard declines to mention or dismisses as "excuses". The weather here during much of baseball season is not the best, with rain and even the odd hurricane or two an ever-present threat. Add to this the location of the stadium, which is in the middle of the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale metro area but might as well be the middle of nowhere, and most potential fans just don't want to make the long, grinding haul in South Florida traffic to get to the stadium and get rained on. I live in Kendall, and it's an easy hour drive to the stadium for a weeknight game. A better location and a baseball-only facility would help tremendously. The proposed site, the Orange Bowl in Little Havana, would've been OK, but not ideal.
Dan LeBatard feels bad for owner Jeffery Loria because he's losing so much money. Cry me a river. Loria was given a loan by Major League Baseball to purchase the franchise a few years back. Does anyone actually think he's going to go broke because the team is losing money? All he has to do is either sell the team or move it, and he's good to go. Another option for Loria is to have the taxpayers foot most of the bill for a new stadium. When he bought the team, he was very aware of the awful lease which the stadium is under (thanks Wayne Huizenga). A new baseball only stadium would have the money flowing into his pockets big time. Apparently, the team is upset at city and county officials for not making up the gap in the funding.
About funding and money...the city and county have pledged enough, almost $50 percent. The rest needs to be handled by the Marlins. It's revealing to note that one of the big hangups in the deal early on was that the Marlins were reluctant to cover any over-budget charges to build the stadium. The city and county demanded that the team cover those costs, and they finally and
reluctantly agreed. By all accounts, except theirs, the Marlins have been grossly under-estimating the cost of the new stadium. They are unwilling to give another cent and are expecting the taxpayers to make up the difference. One problem, the taxpayers don't want to pay another cent, according to numerous surveys and polls. I agree.
Jeffrey Loria has the most to gain from a new stadium, let him pay the rest. We've already promised more than enough. A new stadium with all the bells and whistles in a good location will be a hit, I guarantee it. We have a lot of latent fan support here who simply can't go to many games because of location, economics, etc. The economic part won't change, but give someone a nice stadium with a retractable roof in an attractive location, and they will come.
The problem with baseball today is that owners pretty much hold their communities hostage until they get a good stadium deal (i.e. one in which they pay as little as possible). It's their product, let them pay for it.
OK, now that you know how I stand on the stadium issue, I am here to say that I as a season ticket holder would be willing to pay an extra few bucks per ticket to cover the stadium construction. If anyone other than the team should pay, it's the season ticket holders, the ones who will actually attend the games, although relatively little compared to the overall cost.
As a community, South Florida needs to have the Marlins leave as much as we need another hurricane. Sports add to the culture and quality of life, just as museums, art, and music do. Imagine New York without the Yankees, Chicago without the White Sox (you were expecting Cubs, weren't you?). Our already trashed reputation and perception would take another huge and undeserved hit.
posted by Robert at 5:14 PM
3 Comments:
The state of professional sports today is, to say the least, discouraging. Between the disgustingly high player salaries and the money grabbing owners who have turned sports into nothing more than a business, I've had enough. I can count on one hand the number of professional sporting events I've attended in the last 10 years.
Miami is a tough city to build a loyal fan base, in part, because of its transitional populace. How many times have you gone to a game, even a Dolphin game, and seen a considerable amount of fans for the visiting team?
Add to that poor stadium locations (is there a good stadium location in South Florida?) and you wind up with poor attendance. I recall there a being a fair number of empty seats even for a Marlins divisional playoff game not so long ago.
And, of course, there are all the valid reasons you mentioned. Although I would take issue with comparing the Marlins standing in the city to teams like the Yankees or the White Sox. Those teams been around 4 or 5 times as long as the Marlins.
Unless you field a consistently decent team year after year, and the Marlins are anything but that, I think Miami is going to be a tough town for baseball or any professional sport for that matter.
Good post.
Rick,
Thanks for reading and for your comments. The comparison to the Yankees and White Sox wasn't meant to imply that the Marlins are in equal standing, but only to state that major cities benefit from having professional sports franchises, South Florida included.
Miami is a tough sports market, but the Dolphins are proof that a successful and steady franchise can remain popular even in tough times. The Dolphins still sell out games and, yes, there are a few fans from the visiting team but a definite minority (expect when Jets or Pats are in town). Actually, the Dolphins are a good draw on the road, mainly because a lot of Dolphins fans show up there as well.
Robert,
I posted my thoughts at cubanamericanpundits.com.
Best regards,
Henry
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