January 6, 200620 yr Marlin officials will pay a visit By KERRY EGGERS Issue date: Fri, Jan 6, 2006 The Tribune -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A three-member contingent of the Florida Marlins? front office will visit Portland on Monday as part of their potential relocation process. The Marlins, who are seeking public financing for a baseball-only stadium in Miami, can leave the city after their lease at Dolphins Stadium expires in 2007. Team officials say they prefer to stay in Miami, but they are meeting with groups from seven cities with major league baseball ambitions in case things don?t work out in southern Florida. Representing the Marlins in Portland will be team President David Samson, Vice Chairman Joel Mael and Claude Delorme, senior vice president of stadium development. The trio is expected to meet with Mayor Tom Potter and members of his staff, Oregon Sports Authority chief Drew Mahalic, members of the Portland Baseball Group and an assortment of other community leaders. The Marlins are targeting seven cities for potential relocation, says P.J. Loyello, senior vice president of media and communications. Loyello wouldn?t identify any of the other cities except San Antonio, which received a visit from the Marlins? executive trio last month. Other potential sites for the National League team include Las Vegas, Norfolk, Va., Orlando, Fla., and northern New Jersey. ?I?m sure we will take a close look at all of them,? Loyello says. ?It is very early in the process, and we are still trying to get a stadium deal done? in Miami. Email Kerry Eggers http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=33363
January 6, 200620 yr Im not surprised at all by any of these trips.. San Antonion now Portland.. BIG DEAL! There just talking... Although it may be the begining of the end I would think all these visits could possibly help our situtation down here... In the way that the marlins arent playing around so this city and MLB need to get something done.
January 6, 200620 yr f*** the front office. Well, what would you like them to do? Toil away in Miami without a stadium?
January 6, 200620 yr f*** the front office. Well, what would you like them to do? Toil away in Miami without a stadium? What would I like them to do? How about sell the F'ing team. Oh those poor, poor guys with no new stadium. There are mulitple entities out there who would gladly take what the city/county has offered and contribute the rest themselves. Let's not forget that a new stadium will make this team worth anywhere from 200-500 million more. These guys can sell right now for a big, big profit. Atleast in the 75-125 million range-of profit. Let's say you bought a business. This buisness didn't perform like you had hoped. Let's even say that you were losing money. In the real world your business would fold. But these guys can sell this "money pit" and make out like bandits. But no they are hijacking our team and literally trying to blackmail a city/fanbase into literally giving them hundreds of millions of dollars. Please don't ever try to get me to feel sorry for these guys. They don't even have money to contribute to a new stadium. "Their" money is coming in the form of a "guaranteed" loan from the city/county that they will pay back with all of their new found profits from the stadium. They inherited a crappy lease from that weasel John Henry. But they knew what they were getting. And Portland is laughable. Does anyone think the city of Portland is capable of having 30-35,000 people show up for 81 games a year? South Fla is a much better market for baseball. Even if we're not selling out every night, we have good TV ratings which will result in a signifcant cash flow down the road. In today's sports enviroment, new owners for any of the major sports need a net worth close to 1 billion. The old time owners have already had stadiums built for them. But anyone purchasing a team in the modern era needs signifcant wealth. These guys should sell the team for a profit and move on. Can you tell I'm bitter? I can't even muster a decent whammy.
January 6, 200620 yr This totally sucks, although I understand why they are doing it. Why not just build the damn stadium with all the profits they will be getting..
January 6, 200620 yr Whatever keeps the Marlins in Florida. If that means flirting with the idea of relocating and actually visiting cities to put pressure on Florida officials, I guess I can stomach it for the time being.
January 6, 200620 yr Whatever keeps the Marlins in Florida. If that means flirting with the idea of relocating and actually visiting cities to put pressure on Florida officials, I guess I can stomach it for the time being. EXACTLY!
January 6, 200620 yr the article mentioned orlando, I hope orlando is a serious contender because once they move out of florida they are no longer the marlins
January 6, 200620 yr One of the local news channels had a guy who runs a minor league website who was discussing a lot of these proposed cities. His opinion was that most of the minor league cities like Portland are nowhere near capable of supporting a major league team, at least not better than this market. Other of the proposed cities are either too close to existing MLB cities or simply not big enough. The one city he thought would be a very interesting is Indianapolis. Indiana has a great following for both football and basketball, and there's a pretty strong sports base in the state.
January 7, 200620 yr Whatever keeps the Marlins in Florida. If that means flirting with the idea of relocating and actually visiting cities to put pressure on Florida officials, I guess I can stomach it for the time being. Exactly. And if Florida doesn't agree to Loria's demands*, they have the contacts and information to make an informed definite resolution to their problem. * Which are set, or at the very least suggested, by MLB commissioner's office and the 28 other owners who spent incredible sums of money to get a place at the table, who are in charge of governing the affairs of current owners and considering potential new owners.
January 7, 200620 yr The good news is Samson is going, Im sure he'll make a few enemies within the first few hours, and it may be just enough enemies, to screw up negotiations.
January 7, 200620 yr The good news is Samson is going, Im sure he'll make a few enemies within the first few hours, and it may be just enough enemies, to screw up negotiations. :lol
January 7, 200620 yr The good news is Samson is going, Im sure he'll make a few enemies within the first few hours, and it may be just enough enemies, to screw up negotiations. :lol LOL! As long as he is at the head of this "fact-finding" adventure we can rest assured that the team will stay stranded in Florida.
January 7, 200620 yr Portland will never get a team. And I have to agree with mr_eob, no city will want a team with Samson in the front office.
January 9, 200620 yr Marlins officials will visit Portland to discuss ballpark Associated Press MIAMI -- Florida Marlins representatives plan to meet next week with Portland, Ore., officials about the team's possible relocation to the city in the event it can't get a baseball-only stadium in South Florida. Marlins president David Samson will travel to Portland on Monday for a one-day visit, team spokesman P.J. Loyello said Friday. Samson will be accompanied by Marlins vice chairman Joel Mael and Claude Delorme, who is in charge of stadium development. Since their inception in 1993, the Marlins have shared the Miami Dolphins' home, owned by Wayne Huizenga. The Marlins' lease with the stadium is in effect until 2007, and the team could move after that. If the team relocates, Las Vegas and Portland appear to be the early front-runners.
January 9, 200620 yr Portland will never get a team. And I have to agree with mr_eob, no city will want a team with Samson in the front office. I have to disagree... I dont think any city gives a sh*t who's in office.. They just want a team in their city!
January 9, 200620 yr Today is the day...cant wait to see what the midget (Samson) has to say about his visit to Portland today..."What a great city, but our hope is still to stay in South Florida, but we really like your offer to play in the paciffic northwest"
January 9, 200620 yr if they go anywhere Portland aint a bad place. rapidly growing and far enough away that we will never hear about them on ESPN or baseball toonight
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