Thinking about it now, but as close as the Marlins are to getting the stadium, the seem pretty reluctant to try and find some other way to secure the final piece of the puzzle. By all descriptions, the Marlins are willing to budge at all and seem as uninterested as ever to get this stadium deal done. But if I remember correctly, doesn't Jeff Loria have a loan that he must pay back to MLB if this stadium does go through? Could this be some sick and twisted way not to repay that loan back?

 

 

Maybe I'm just reading too much into it all :whistle

Thinking about it now, but as close as the Marlins are to getting the stadium, the seem pretty reluctant to try and find some other way to secure the final piece of the puzzle. By all descriptions, the Marlins are willing to budge at all and seem as uninterested as ever to get this stadium deal done. But if I remember correctly, doesn't Jeff Loria have a loan that he must pay back to MLB if this stadium does go through? Could this be some sick and twisted way not to repay that loan back?

 

 

Maybe I'm just reading too much into it all :whistle

949693[/snapback]

 

Yes. It definately weights into his decisions.

If he gets no new stadium in a certain timeframe, the loan is forgiven. If he moves and gets a new stadium, it is not. If he gets a new one in Miami, it is not. If he sells, it is not.

If he gets no new stadium in a certain timeframe, the loan is forgiven. If he moves and gets a new stadium, it is not. If he gets a new one in Miami, it is not. If he sells, it is not.

949716[/snapback]

 

 

So if Loria sells the team, does he have to pay it back or does the new owner?

Loria sells, Loria pays.

Great. Thanks Cape :thumbup

 

 

Maybe that's another reason why he has no interest in selling this team..

From the USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/bbw/2002-02...insidepitch.htm

Then-Expos owner Jeffrey Loria nearly walked away from the deal to buy the Marlins last weekend, which would have left the game in chaos. Loria struck a deal in which he got a $23.5 million interest-free loan from Major League Baseball. If the Marlins don't get a new ballpark within five years, Loria must repay the loan. If they do get their new park, MLB gets 20% of the team's operating profit during its first five years in the new park.

 

This from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2004/0426/066_print.html

The balance would come from a $38 million interest-free loan made to Loria by baseball's owners--a debt that will be reduced by $15 million or so if Loria can't get a new stadium.

 

Many different sources of conflicting information on the loan. I always understood it to be that if Loria profits (sale, stadium or move), Loria must repay.

Hank Goldberg and some other sources were drumming this up as a reason why the stadium would not get done.

 

Seeing as Cape has done most of the research (and by his own admission, come with some conflicting sources) the way Goldberg was presenting it was simply Loria had to make a good faith effort to get the stadium, and the debt would only be payable upon completion of the new stadium. No stadium, no loan payments, and a clear mandate for relocation.