Stadiums don't get built without major team $$$ participation, someone has to pay the debt service on these expensive new parks and its the team which means high rents

you're correct.

 

and all that will chip away from future team profits--something you don't have to deal with once you've sold the team. obviously that would make the team sell for a lower price, but i still find it hard to believe a team with a new stadium in a new market could sell for less than $120 million after loria's had the chance to recoup some of his losses for a few years in the new market.

 

that said, i really don't think the guy would up and sell the team just to make a buck. he moved up from owning a minor league team... the guy likes baseball, plain and simple.

Stadiums don't get built without major team $$$ participation, someone has to pay the debt service on these expensive new parks and its the team which means high rents

you're correct.

 

and all that will chip away from future team profits--something you don't have to deal with once you've sold the team. obviously that would make the team sell for a lower price, but i still find it hard to believe a team with a new stadium in a new market could sell for less than $120 million after loria's had the chance to recoup some of his losses for a few years in the new market.

 

that said, i really don't think the guy would up and sell the team just to make a buck. he moved up from owning a minor league team... the guy likes baseball, plain and simple.

Alka, I know you're on the side of the guys wearing the white hats, but as you started to point out, there is a direct correlation between the amount of debt a business has and the value of that business.

 

You're not going to sell a franchise without the acquirer factoring in the cost of doing business. The more debt, the lower the valuation. It's Econ 101.

 

9-11 has totally changed how business value "future" valuations.

 

Loria isn't going to move the Fish somewhere else to sell it. Financially that makes no sense. He would be better off selling it now (thank god he isn't of a mind to do that). The reason he is trying so hard to get a stadium is because he wants to keep the franchise for many years to come.

 

From a purely materialistic perspective it's his only chance of ever getting back what he's invested.

For the record, this fantasy that Loria will be able to cash out with a huge profit is pure, unadulterated baloney. Right now you couldn't get 80% of what they paid to acquire the franchise, they are hemorraging money and there's not a single stadium ready to accept them if they did move. Rupert Mordoch (Fox) lost bigtime on the sale of his franchise. MLB can't sell the Expos. What in the world would make people think the Marlins would be any different?

 

The national economy will take a generation to recover from the bursting of the Clinton economic (read internet/millenium) bubble and 9-11.

 

Three cities waiting with baited breath to build a stadium? Horse manure. All this talk about Portland and DC (and I don't know what the third one alluded to is) is nothing more than propaganda. DC? Not a chance as long as the Orioles have a veto. Portland? Good luck trying to field a profitable team there, not big enough a market to sustain MLB. Same goes for Vegas and northern Virginia.

 

You should thank your lucky stars we have the ownership we have, a guy who is putting his love of baseball above his wallet. He could be in Paris right now buying art instead of being maligned by a group of naysayers and powerbrokers out to satisfy their special interests.

 

Shame on all of you.

I agree wtih you...Loria isn't trying to pull a trick on anyone, he's just a smart businessman who knows the potential behind the Florida baseball market. Come on! how the hell do you explain that this market is suffering if it's filled with Hipanics who adore baseball??? We need a new stadium, not because PP sucks, but because we need a steady stream of profits. The only way to do this in baseball is by having control of luxury suites, parking, concessions, etc., which are the real revenue streams, not the tickets!

I am sorry, but PPS does suck. Tampa has a better ballpark.

 

Real ballparks don't have endzones nor do they have JumboTrons! They have foul lines and scoreboards.

Sorry Cape, but I personally don't mind JRS at all.