Posted November 2, 200519 yr Marlins recovering from Wilma Category 2 storm shut down Marlins offices for more than a week MIAMI -- Hurricane Wilma's wrath ravaged much of South Florida, leaving more than three million people without power and paralyzing the region. The impact of the Category 2 storm that made landfall on Oct. 24, with its more than 100 mph winds, also affected the daily operations of the Florida Marlins. Now, just more than a week removed from suffering a powerful hit from Mother Nature, the team is getting back into business mode. Recovery, like to the rest of the region, is a slow process. Already, the hurricane has forced the team to shut down its Dolphins Stadium offices for a full week, bringing the Marlins' business and baseball efforts to a standstill. "It impacted everything," said Marlins president David Samson, who noted the offices reopened on Monday. "From a standpoint of running the business, we couldn't reach 80 percent of our employees [the first day or two after the storm hit]. The hotline wasn't working for people to get information." Samson and Ana Hernandez, the team's director of human resources, personally tried phoning the 150 or so team employees. Much of their efforts went to no avail because many residents lost their phone service. "The bottom line was we couldn't reach anybody," Samson said. "That, to me, was scary, because we wanted to make sure everybody was OK. Once we reached them, we found out that people were OK. They had a lot of damage and problems, but they were OK. But there was no work going on." The stadium was without power for four days, and there was a great deal of debris on the complex. From a baseball standpoint, communication was shut down for about a week. General manager Admin Beinfest had a difficult time discussing personnel options with the rest of the front office. The Marlins are in the process of establishing payroll parameters while putting together their arbitration figures and signing six-year free agents. "We had no phone service. We had nothing," Samson said. "So you fall behind on the offseason priority list, in signing six-year free agents, getting ready for arbitration. All the things you have to do, you fall behind. That's the baseball side." With so much damage to the area, traveling to the stadium is risky. The heavy winds snapped many traffic lights off their wires, creating havoc on the roads. Samson, who hasn't had power at his Broward County home for more than a week, said it took him more than an hour to drive to the stadium. Normally, it's just less than a 20-minute trip. Just recently, the baseball executives have again started to communicate on a daily basis. As for the business end, the storm has hindered efforts to secure corporate sponsors and season tickets. The team's annual charity golf tournament, originally scheduled for early November, now has been postponed. A likely date for the rescheduling of the event is early February. "That really is our signature event to keep people's minds on the Marlins," Samson said. "We do a lot of business at that golf tournament. I just made the decision that it was the right thing to do, to postpone it." Some preplanning assured the company would make payroll to its employees. When the National Hurricane Center issued a warning for Wilma days before it made its way to Florida, the Marlins decided to bump up payroll a week. "We're glad we did that, or we wouldn't have been able to make payroll," Samson said. "On the business side, we're in the process of renewing our corporate sponsors and season tickets. Obviously, with no phone service, you're not doing anything like that. We got back to work [Monday] and I met with every single individual to see how they were doing, and I told them I still don't have power, and to stay strong and everything will be OK eventually. Then I met with each department and we mapped out a strategy." Samson has urged the sales staff to see if the club can be of assistance to potential season-ticket holders. If the team can help a client find a roofer or landscaper, they will pass along recommendations. "We're doing that with all of our clients: corporate clients and individual clients," Samson said. "If you look at it, it impacted not just this week, but last week, this week and next week, too." On a broader scale, the storm hit at a time the Marlins are trying to salvage a stadium plan. The club has been in negotiations with City of Miami and Miami-Dade County officials to build a retractable-roof stadium next to the Orange Bowl. "It could definitely have an impact," Samson said. "The stadium talks may be slower now." Already a low-revenue team, the storm likely will affect the product the club puts on the field. Without the projected corporate sponsorships and season-ticket sales, the payroll probably will decline from the record total of $65 million in 2005. How much of a decrease, assuming that is the decision of owner Jeffrey Loria, remains to be seen. In the past, Loria has extended his resources to give the team a chance to be competitive. The franchise, which began playing in 1993, has enjoyed three straight winning seasons for the first time in club history. While they won the 2003 World Series, the 2005 team had playoff aspirations that never panned out, as they finished 83-79. "We're definitely impacted over the long run here," Samson said. "When we plan for next year, it definitely has an impact -- a significant impact." Traditionally, October is a solid month to sell season tickets, while November is generally slow. Over the past two years, the state of Florida has had its share of hurricane damage. And Samson more fully understands the hardships brought about by Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. "I have an appreciation for the people in the Gulf Coast now, because I'm just as guilty as everyone else," Samson said. "It's no longer in the news, so I assume everything is normal. And I keep getting calls from people in the Northeast like nothing happened. "I think we all have an appreciation for the power of nature. We were just talking about that with the tsunami, the earthquake and the hurricanes and all the stuff that is going on, I think that it's time for everyone to take a quick look at how they treat the environment." http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/...t=.jsp&c_id=fla
November 2, 200519 yr Already a low-revenue team, the storm likely will affect the product the club puts on the field. Without the projected corporate sponsorships and season-ticket sales, the payroll probably will decline from the record total of $65 million in 2005. You gotta be kidding me.
November 2, 200519 yr Already a low-revenue team, the storm likely will affect the product the club puts on the field. Without the projected corporate sponsorships and season-ticket sales, the payroll probably will decline from the record total of $65 million in 2005. You gotta be kidding me. you thought he was going to increase payroll?
November 2, 200519 yr Already a low-revenue team, the storm likely will affect the product the club puts on the field. Without the projected corporate sponsorships and season-ticket sales, the payroll probably will decline from the record total of $65 million in 2005. You gotta be kidding me. you thought he was going to increase payroll? The excuse is lame.
November 3, 200519 yr I agree. Most of last year's season ticket holders have already been locked up for next year. They went into October with the highest season tickets sold ever. However many more they sell between now and the beginning of the season will likely be an increase over last year. Ticket prices are up again, and so will revenue next year. There is no reason to cut payroll.
November 3, 200519 yr Already a low-revenue team, the storm likely will affect the product the club puts on the field. Without the projected corporate sponsorships and season-ticket sales, the payroll probably will decline from the record total of $65 million in 2005. You gotta be kidding me. you thought he was going to increase payroll? The excuse is lame. excuses or not the payroll was going to go down either way. there is only so much money loria can stand losing, and business wise i dont blame him
November 3, 200519 yr Already a low-revenue team, the storm likely will affect the product the club puts on the field. Without the projected corporate sponsorships and season-ticket sales, the payroll probably will decline from the record total of $65 million in 2005. You gotta be kidding me. you thought he was going to increase payroll? The excuse is lame. excuses or not the payroll was going to go down either way. there is only so much money loria can stand losing, and business wise i dont blame him I knew payroll was going to come down when the stadium deal died. I'm just saying blaming Wilma on the payroll cut is retarded.
November 3, 200519 yr Author I agree, if you're going to cut payroll at least be honest about it and say it's because Loria is losing money and we have a bad deal on the lease... don't sugarcoat it and try and make it seem like f***ing Wilma is the reason behind it when we knew the payroll was being cut long before Wilma ever even developed.
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