This is very interesting, read it to see why (I highlighted it even) :mischief

 

Palm Beach Post Link

 

Neil deMause has made a career out of cataloguing the threats teams use to get stadiums all across the country, but this was new even for him.

 

"Cricket?" he said.

 

The Florida Marlins say they not only are being reluctantly pulled by the bright lights of Las Vegas, but also pushed by landlord Wayne Huizenga out of Pro Player Stadium. An eviction letter orders them to leave after 2010, to make way for soccer and cricket.

 

"Threatening to get kicked out for cricket breaks new ground, and I give them props for that," said deMause, a New York journalist who runs the Web site FieldofSchemes.com, which takes a skeptical look at the claims of teams seeking taxpayer money for stadiums.

 

Call it threat-level Orange in the Marlins' protracted struggle for a stadium. Marlins President David Samson said the impending ouster is plenty real and adds another pressing reason the team must have a new ballpark.

 

"We have to have a place to play," Samson said. "Our focus is on getting a new stadium so we can keep the team in Florida."

 

Mark Rosentraub, a dean of urban affairs at Cleveland State University and an expert on stadium financing, defended the right of team owners to reach for all the leverage they can. It amounts to the same thing ordinary people do when they buy a house or a car, he said.

 

"It's all part of the negotiation," Rosentraub said. "It's just like you're negotiating for a car. You say, 'I'm going to another dealership,' and you come back later. Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is doing his job. It's his fiduciary duty to the franchise. The mayor and the other politicians are doing theirs."

 

Rosentraub spoke last spring at a sports business conference sponsored by Florida International University, and he has monitored South Florida's stadium negotiations.

 

"I still fervently believe there is enough common ground around the Orange Bowl plan that a deal can be done," he said. "There is no city out there that can offer them the kind of revenue structure Miami offers. Las Vegas has some drawbacks. Its residential population is not particularly wealthy. It has a lot of people moving in, but those people are not really coming to watch baseball. To say there will be a baseball team there is more of a hope than a reality at this point."

 

Are the threats credible?

 

The credibility of both the Las Vegas and lease threats will be put to the test in the next 150 days, for Miami officials and state legislators will decide whether to pay for more than half of a $420 million stadium and parking garage beside the Orange Bowl.

 

The question about the lease situation is whether it makes enough business sense to be believable. South Florida's Major League Soccer team folded. The Florida Thunder of the fledgling ProCricket league drew a reported 250 fans in a match in Long Island during the summer. That would fill one-third of 1 percent of 74,916-seat Pro Player Stadium, which would lose 81 home dates from a two-time World Series champion baseball team.

 

The Thunder had difficulty finding a home field in Fort Lauderdale and Cooper City. Its last three regular-season matches were canceled, according to the league's Web site. A call Friday to league offices in New Jersey was not returned.

 

"They can't seriously mean they'd rather have cricket," deMause said, referring to Huizenga's stadium management team. "The Marlins lease at Pro Player Stadium is infamous for being infinitely generous to Wayne Huizenga. Clearly, Huizenga is not losing money on the deal."

 

Although he has refused to alter the lease conditions that the Marlins say are crippling, Huizenga has expressed support for the club's efforts to find a new home. Huizenga sold the Marlins because he could not obtain a publicly financed stadium for them. He has said the baseball team's contribution to Pro Player Stadium's bottom line is relatively small, a couple of million dollars a year. Still, if it turned out the Marlins had no place to play after 2010, there is no obvious legal reason why the lease could not be renewed with a stroke of the pen, assuming both parties were willing.

 

Pro Player Stadium President Bruce Schulze declined to discuss the business reasoning behind the move.

 

"I'm really not at liberty to comment on that, other than to say the lease is up in 2010 and that's it," Schulze said.

 

Asked whether the Marlins requested the eviction letter, Schulze said he could not comment. Samson said there was no question the letter came at the initiative of stadium officials.

 

There was some confusion, however, as to who initiated the trip to see the mayor of Las Vegas by team Vice Chairman Joel Mael and Vice President P.J. Loyello.

 

"We were invited to go and we went," Samson said.

 

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said the Marlins initiated the meeting, although he was happy to see them.

 

"Folks from Florida made contact with the general manager from our minor-league team here," Goodman said. "A councilman put in on my calendar."

 

Samson said, "That's not the impression I had. I've been focused on getting the deal done here."

 

A deal with city and county leaders in Miami may not be finalized until January or February, Samson said. That sets the stage for a spring session of the state legislature, which will consider a $60 million subsidy the club says is critical to closing the deal. The team has pledged $192 million from future stadium revenues to help pay off construction bonds on the $420 million project.

 

The Las Vegas trip left Miami Mayor Manny Diaz "disturbed" that the team chose this moment to make contact with another city.

 

"If it's negotiating, it's pretty bad negotiating," Diaz said.

 

Fans offer varying views

 

The atmosphere is growing testier, and not just in Florida. The Washington, D.C., council has beaned Major League Baseball with a last-minute provision requiring half the money for a new ballpark there to come from private sources, rather than entirely from taxpayers. Baseball has responded with its own ultimatum: Honor the original deal by year's end, or risk losing the Expos/Nationals altogether.

 

Fan reaction to the Marlins' tactics has been mixed, said Admin Walansky, webmaster of MarlinsBaseball.com, a fan site that he said is not affiliated with the team. His own opinion is that Loria has a right to do what he must to keep pressuring government officials.

 

"When I first heard the news, I started to think of how this is a great move by the Marlins," Walansky said. "Sure, as a fan of the team I would hate to see them move out of South Florida, but on the other hand they need to get something done.

 

"The current lease is draining much-needed revenue from Jeffrey Loria's hands, and if he can't get a new stadium in Florida, it is his right and it is the right decision to look elsewhere and make Florida spin the wheels of legislature for a new park."

 

Fans responding on Walansky's site have not always agreed. "I have been a Marlins fan since Day 1," said a fan who identified herself as Miriam Fernandez. "I have remained a fan no matter what. I am very upset with the organization right now. They kept telling us that the Marlins aren't leaving South Florida, and the first thing they do is turn around and betray the fans."

 

Max Diaz offered, "Moving the Florida Marlins to Las Vegas would be a huge mistake for the team and for Major League Baseball in general. Major League Baseball has a potential giant in a Miami-based baseball franchise, with dedicated ownership and a new stadium, the potential for the Marlins in Miami would be endless. Moving the team to Las Vegas would anger fans in Miami and create more cynicism with Major League Baseball, making it impossible for any Major League Baseball franchise to return to the Miami area."

 

Others could see some wisdom in the team's strategy, including Daniel Yosua: "The Las Vegas discussions, while discouraging, are perhaps the wake-up call we need to finally get a stadium deal done."

 

The Marlins say the point of all this is they need more control of revenues from suites, concessions, parking and advertising to maintain a competitive payroll. Michael W. Jackson, director of graduate sports studies at Temple University, said that argument doesn't win much sympathy from fans of other teams, who have watched the expansion franchise win two World Series titles in its short existence since 1993.

 

"They've had the best players in baseball in two different occasions," Jackson said. "I think it's pretty clear they're using Las Vegas as leverage."

 

The Marlins are the last team in the region from the four largest pro leagues to seek a new stadium, so whenever this chapter closes, it may bring down the noise on owner threats for a while.

 

At least until a pro cricket franchise playing in Pro Player Stadium decides the time is right to push for a stadium of its own.

Admin IS FAMOUS AGAIN!

 

 

 

EDIT: So are MiRi and MaXx and that other dood... :thumbup

Hehe, Walansky.

 

Now if your middle name starts with an A you should dub yourself "the L.A.W"

Admin IS FAMOUS AGAIN!

 

EDIT: So are MiRi and MaXx and that other dood... :thumbup

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Other dood = MarlinsFans46

Nice!!

 

Walansky...reminds me of the little guy from Monsters Inc.

Uh oh. There goes his ego again.... :whistle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice article, Admin :thumbup

Good stuff

There should a forum made specifically to post stuff that mentions you in newpapers and what not. That will fill everyone's ego needs.

 

Plus then I can feel good about polluting this site with stuff whenever I am mentioned in an article discussing the UF Hockey team. :plain

haha, this is awesome. Nice job Admin .

There should a forum made specifically to post stuff that mentions you in newpapers and what not.? That will fill everyone's ego needs.

Plus then I can feel good about polluting this site with stuff whenever I am mentioned in an article discussing the UF Hockey team. :plain

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:plain I'm sorry for polluting my site with a Marlins related article that had a mention of me in it.

Congrats Admin! :thumbup

Nice!

Cool.

I hate Huizenga, but I loves me some Admin.

All hail the PBPost.

 

I'm liking their sportswriters these days too.

All hail the PBPost.

 

 

:notworthy :notworthy :notworthy

 

 

:thumbup

Cool Admin! You are the beacon of Marlins truth both online and now in print.

Excellent Article

Very Cool! :thumbup

We rule.

There should a forum made specifically to post stuff that mentions you in newpapers and what not. That will fill everyone's ego needs.

Plus then I can feel good about polluting this site with stuff whenever I am mentioned in an article discussing the UF Hockey team. :plain

638386[/snapback]

 

:plain I'm sorry for polluting my site with a Marlins related article that had a mention of me in it.

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You'll be forgiven in due time, for now I'll just call you Lesuire Suit because I can.... :confused

 

I got nothin'.