Marlins in downtown Miami is bad idea

By RAY McNULTY

May 3, 2004

 

 

There are still plenty of questions that must be answered before the first shovel touches dirt on the Miami site where the Florida Marlins hope to build their new baseball home.

 

Can the Marlins get the $30 million they need from the state to fill the funding gap in the proposed plan to finance the project?

 

Can city officials close the deal to sell an obsolete Miami Arena for $25 million? Can a state-of-the-art, 38,000-seat, retractable-roof ballpark be built for $325 million, a paltry sum when compared to the $400 million it cost to construct Milwaukee's Miller Park and the $517 million price tag on Seattle's Safeco Field? Even the most wide-eyed, baseball-crazy optimist should have serious doubts.

 

But there's another, more compelling question that must be asked.

 

What happens after the new ballpark is built?

 

No one questions the Marlins' need to get away from Pro Player Stadium and its owner, Wayne Huizenga, who not only collects rent but also gets most of the parking, concession and luxury-suite revenues.

 

It is the worst stadium lease in baseball. And Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria isn't whining when he says his team can't continue to compete while operating under such economic constraints.

 

So with Huizenga unwilling to budge, Loria has no choice. For the franchise to survive in South Florida, the Marlins must have a new ballpark that enables them to take in a far greater share of the game-day revenues.

 

But the current proposal won't work.

 

Not for long.

 

Not on this site.

 

The decision to build a ballpark next to the Orange Bowl is as shortsighted as it is desperate. And it all but guarantees the long-term failure of the franchise.

 

Why? Because nobody north of Boca Raton is going to drive - on Interstate 95, through Fort Lauderdale, at rush hour - to downtown Miami to watch a baseball game.

 

Not very often, anyway.

 

It's too far, too inconvenient and, for some, too scary.

 

If the Marlins move to Little Havana, they'll ignore the steady, northward migration of South Florida's population and effectively abandon their growing fan base in Palm Beach County and along the Treasure Coast.

 

They'll become a TV team.

 

And when that happens - when the novelty of a new ballpark wears off, when not enough fans from Dade and Broward bother to show up, when the Miami Marlins are playing in front of too many empty seats - Loria again will have no choice.

 

He'll need to move, maybe to one of the counties to the north, or to another Florida market, or to another state ... wherever he can find someone to build him a ballpark.

 

Thing is, without a new ballpark in Miami, Loria has no real choice now.

 

He can't move. The Montreal Expos are at the top of baseball's relocation list.

 

He can't sell. Nobody wants to buy a team with such a lousy stadium lease.

 

The team can't be contracted. The current labor agreement, which doesn't expire until after the 2006 season, prohibits contraction.

 

This is the best deal he can get: It keeps big-league baseball in South Florida, keeps the Marlins in Miami and keeps Loria in the game.

 

But for how long? The franchise won't survive in downtown Miami, even with a new ballpark.

 

So let's say the state comes through. And Miami Arena is sold. And the Marlins find a way to build the ballpark for $325 million.

 

What then? That's the question that needs to be answered - before anyone picks up a shovel.

 

This article makes me laugh. Baseball will survive in Little Havana. If the Heat has survived in its 6 years at the AAA and Mickey Arison hasnt complained then the Marlins will survive also. AAA and the OB are only minutes away from each other. As for the racist remark that coming down here is "a little scary" - thats BS. Another racist remark from Northern Anglos not used to seeing so many Latins.

See thats why there will be a lease for over 30 years so the marlins CANT move, but anyways reasonable complaints. Partly is true, but this isn't the Marlins decision. Miami was the only city. Dade was the only county that offered them anything at all. So whatever. Nothing wrong with becoming tv team. Thats a big revenue stream right there. People will go to games.

This has been my argument for a while as a PBC fan. I'll still go, but I can't say the same for a lot of my friends :confused .

 

Either way, the Marlins are here with the new home, and it beats any other possible scenarios. Get back to me in 10 years though...

This guy is a bozo. Scary to go to the OB???? Nonsense! Inconvenient to Northern Broward and PB fans??? Perhaps.

 

The Marlins already know that the fans they loose in Broward and PB will have to be made up with new fans from South Dade.

What an asswad.

I wonder if he's from Palm Beach county? I've heard nothing but whinning and b***hing from PBC fans, it's really quite annoying. If your a PBC fan and have not been b***hing sorry to bunch you up with the rest of them. Mind you he forgets that a new stadium will gaurante the Marlins play in Miami at LEAST for the duration of the lease. Basically his article in a nutshell "I hate that their building the stadium in Little Havana cause I am scared of all the Latinos but the Marlins have no choice". I mean WOW that is so powerful, by far the most insightful peice of journalism I have ever read.....

The Writer is from the Treasure Coast area so he is by Palm Beach.

Sounds more like a crybaby to me....

i'm not saying anything harsh because i recently got a 1 day ban.

 

what an arrogant person. good point on the AAA. i can't wait 'till this team becomes another seattle. by the way i rather drive through little havana than drive through carol city and wynwood which was were a site was considered.

Everything sounds ok except the money issue...

 

 

I don't like the idea of the Marlins contributing so much money... this could force the ownership to lower the payroll for the first couple of years...

 

 

People won't like that...

I don't think we would mind paying an extra $1 per ticket if needed.

This guy is a dumbass, if he ever walked around downtown at night before like i have (dont ask...). he'd know that downtown was WORSE before the arena's were built, the stadium is going to attract more policing around the area and also better businesses. besides that the area around the OB isnt that bad, why do i say that? because i live there. :thumbup