On Monday, Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer, said that he has had discussions regarding a possible stadium with Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess.

 

 

For me, that's the key in these latest development. DuPuy and Selig seems to be hands on now.

 

By doing the Nationals deal recently, MLB know how tangible and how good are the opportunities with other cities. If I have to speculate, there is nothing better out there at the moment or the options involve some significant risk.

 

Wayne is also smelling deal, and is trying to force a deal by going to the media and saying a deal is on the table.

 

Gotta love this whole soap opera . . .

I dont agree with Loria's tactics of an extreme market correction but it is time to put the bs aside on both sides and get this thing done. The Marlins belong in Florida!!!

I feel sorry for Loria. Some will blame him no matter what, but if you were in his shoes, what would you do... lose millions and millions of dollars each year and not do anything about it?

What you consider extreme is how the last owner of the Marlins operated, and most owners would have put in place 3 years ago.

I feel sorry for Loria. Some will blame him no matter what, but if you were in his shoes, what would you do... lose millions and millions of dollars each year and not do anything about it?

 

 

Exactly... It's obvious that he wants to stay here. Had he continued to spend the money on payroll, attendance would remain down simply cause Dolphins Stadium is not good for baseball.. not to mention the threat of rain every day... But the only way the Marlins FO can make a statement to say that he's not messing around, is to go through with this "market correction." It definitely has people talking, so I think they've accomplished what they needed to. Unfortunately, it had to come to this, but if Loria would have kept on losing money, nothing would have happened because the local politicians would simply say that he must be doing well, because the team keeps on winning.... As much as we all hate it (and trust me, I do), I really think this was necessary.

I feel sorry for Loria. Some will blame him no matter what, but if you were in his shoes, what would you do... lose millions and millions of dollars each year and not do anything about it?

 

It's easy to blame him when some think he's not losing that much money, and others still think he's MAKING money.

I don't feel sorry for Loria. He's a multi-millionaire.

I feel sorry for Loria. Some will blame him no matter what, but if you were in his shoes, what would you do... lose millions and millions of dollars each year and not do anything about it?

 

It's easy to blame him when some think he's not losing that much money, and others still think he's MAKING money.

They are wrong. See the discussion starting from post #20.

Little tidbit that I found verrry interesting and that needs to be emphasised.

 

"Las Vegas made a very attractive proposal," said DuPuy about the city's efforts to attract the Expos. "There are issues with regards to Vegas indicated during that proposal. [There was] no willingness to take baseball off the books. I know that's a very, very serious issue with the Commissioner."

 

I'm no expert, but I am pretty sure there is a snowball's chance in hell of baseball coming off the books in Vegas. Oscar Goodman will be buried alive in the desert if he tries to take away that revenue source for the casinos. So if it's a very, very serious issue with the commish, and it's a breaker for him, then I don't see it happening.

 

 

 

On another note, where exactly does Loria think the county and city are hiding the money. Does someone else know anything in terms of what other revenue sources they can tap out?

I feel sorry for Loria. Some will blame him no matter what, but if you were in his shoes, what would you do... lose millions and millions of dollars each year and not do anything about it?

 

It's easy to blame him when some think he's not losing that much money, and others still think he's MAKING money.

They are wrong. See the discussion starting from post #20.

Hey, you're preaching to the choir. I'm just saying that I've seen that post in a number of threads, and there are still people that think he's doing fine.

maybe they want to put it to the voters to approve a half cent sales tax or something. though it would probably get voted down so then again maybe not...

On Monday, Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer, said that he has had discussions regarding a possible stadium with Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess.

 

 

For me, that's the key in these latest development. DuPuy and Selig seems to be hands on now.

 

By doing the Nationals deal recently, MLB know how tangible and how good are the opportunities with other cities. If I have to speculate, there is nothing better out there at the moment or the options involve some significant risk.

 

Wayne is also smelling deal, and is trying to force a deal by going to the media and saying a deal is on the table.

 

Gotta love this whole soap opera . . .

 

The Commissioner's Office is getting tired of sending revenue sharing $$$ to the Marlins with no end in sight. Clearly they want the Marlins to become *contributors* to the fund and the only way for that to happen is to have a new stadium. It is nice to see them take a more active role.

Someone in the know may clarify this. Where do the Marlins rank in percentage of population listening or viewing games. I suspect they are not at the bottom. This would be the true test of interest. The team makes money from these stats. Also it indicates, if not at the bottom, that the problem is with visiting the stadium, not with interest in baseball in south florida.

 

 

Good question. Don't know the answer to that. I suspect the Marlins are in the middle of the pack.

Little tidbit that I found verrry interesting and that needs to be emphasised.

 

"Las Vegas made a very attractive proposal," said DuPuy about the city's efforts to attract the Expos. "There are issues with regards to Vegas indicated during that proposal. [There was] no willingness to take baseball off the books. I know that's a very, very serious issue with the Commissioner."

 

I'm no expert, but I am pretty sure there is a snowball's chance in hell of baseball coming off the books in Vegas. Oscar Goodman will be buried alive in the desert if he tries to take away that revenue source for the casinos. So if it's a very, very serious issue with the commish, and it's a breaker for him, then I don't see it happening.

 

 

 

On another note, where exactly does Loria think the county and city are hiding the money. Does someone else know anything in terms of what other revenue sources they can tap out?

 

 

 

Casinos > Goodman. I doubt Vegas is a viable option

On another note, where exactly does Loria think the county and city are hiding the money. Does someone else know anything in terms of what other revenue sources they can tap out?

 

Some recent examples:

Sales tax on ballpark purchases. Basically slap a x% tax on everything from beer to bobbleheads.

Short small city wide sales tax increase.

Tax on large businesses who stand to gain from moving the team nearby.

Selling land and rights to different developers and contractors

I'm all for building the Marlins their stadium. Do what it takes, so long as it doesn't take money away from basic necessities, such as infrastructure improvement. From what Marlins2003 says, the money would come from a tax on tourists (hotel rooms, etc.) that is specifically earmarked for this type of project. In other words, it won't take away from any of the basic necessities that many of us are concerned about. In that case, just get it done.

I'm all for building the Marlins their stadium. Do what it takes, so long as it doesn't take money away from basic necessities, such as infrastructure improvement. From what Marlins2003 says, the money would come from a tax on tourists (hotel rooms, etc.) that is specifically earmarked for this type of project. In other words, it won't take away from any of the basic necessities that many of us are concerned about. In that case, just get it done.

 

 

None of the money pledged by either the city or county, not a penny, comes from any source other than tourist taxes collected and earmarked for projects like this. In fact they cannot be transferred to the general find for uses such as building schools, roads, etc.

 

Tourism is going so well, and has since the recovery from 2001, that the accounts are overflowing with receipts, much more than was projected. Diaz and Ariolla want to capture those dollars where they will do the most good - for them - repaying political debts, satisfying the Latin Builders cabal who have finacially propped up Diaz for years with construction contracts. Then there is the airport concessions constituency who need to find a new home and places to rip the public off, having lost their strangle-hold on MIA.