The Sun-Sentinal is saying the stadium would have just 38,000 seats?

 

And it costs $325 Million?

 

It must have some nice extras...

 

But why such a little amount of seating?

Most new stadiums are around 30,000-40,000 seats.

 

 

The days of a huge stadium that holds 50,000 to 60,000 is long since over and as it is, all teams(with the exception of the New York, Chicago and Boston) all have problems filling their stadiums. IMO it just makes more sense.

After going to all the playoff and Series games, plus the regular season of course, I must say I'm in favor of a smaller, more intimate stadium. 38,000 sounds fine with me.

After going to all the playoff and Series games, plus the regular season of course, I must say I'm in favor of a smaller, more intimate stadium. 38,000 sounds fine with me.

It is true. It makes 20,000 to 25,000 people look like the stadium is full. Just better. Wrigley Field has no more than 30,000 and Yankee Stadium on its best day can accomodate a max of 50,000...

I hope we are complaining about seat numbers because we plan on filling them. Id except the bandwagon to stay this time and not forever abandon a team until they reign as world series champ for the 3rd time in 11 years.

another benefit, smaller stadium should increase the number of season ticket holders in order to secure playoff seats

Baseball is a quaint sport where being in the stadium provides a sense of romantacism and genuine love for the game of baseball. A rowdy and drunk crowd of 60,000 kills that purpose.

I hope we are complaining about seat numbers because we plan on filling them. Id except the bandwagon to stay this time and not forever abandon a team until they reign as world series champ for the 3rd time in 11 years.

 

 

You keep preaching to the wrong Choir. Most of us here were at those games when the stadium was empty. Go make an article in the Miami Herald or something and get those thousands of people I saw at the parade yesterday to buy season tickets. :mischief

Sounds like a great plan but Im sure Lebatard will have that covered in the coming weeks. But no one wants to listen to a man whos been bashing them all season.

When i heard it was only 38,000 i was shocked. What about if we make it again to the postseason? Where will the 65,000 fans sit.....but at least we have our own stadium. They should at least make it 50,000. This isnt going to be a copy of Fenway park

I would prefer a 38,000 seat stadium where the fans are close to the field than a 67,000 seat football stadium.

 

 

Its kinda like with the Alamodome/SBC Center.

 

 

People will then complain about not enough seats.

 

Always something.

Sounds like a great plan but Im sure Lebatard will have that covered in the coming weeks. But no one wants to listen to a man whos been bashing them all season.

 

As I said they would yesterday, the Herald trotted out Linda Robertson this morning to start the ball rolling to kill a stadium. I assume you all read her piece this morning. Have no fear you'll be reading tons on this in America's most journalistically bankrupt newspaper before its all said and done.

 

If they can pry his crypt open, expect Edwin Pope to opine on this soon, and it won't be pretty.

After going to all the playoff and Series games, plus the regular season of course, I must say I'm in favor of a smaller, more intimate stadium. 38,000 sounds fine with me.

I agree.

 

But I still thought it would hold somewhere over 40,000...

As I said they would yesterday, the Herald trotted out Linda Robertson this morning to start the ball rolling to kill a stadium. I assume you all read her piece this morning. Have no fear you'll be reading tons on this in America's most journalistically bankrupt newspaper before its all said and done.

 

If they can pry his crypt open, expect Edwin Pope to opine on this soon, and it won't be pretty.

Her article wasn't so bad. She IS dead wrong about the amount of revenue the Marlins can receive even with ten-thousand fans and losing seasons. Two words: luxury boxes.

Sounds like a great plan but Im sure Lebatard will have that covered in the coming weeks. But no one wants to listen to a man whos been bashing them all season.

 

As I said they would yesterday, the Herald trotted out Linda Robertson this morning to start the ball rolling to kill a stadium. I assume you all read her piece this morning. Have no fear you'll be reading tons on this in America's most journalistically bankrupt newspaper before its all said and done.

 

If they can pry his crypt open, expect Edwin Pope to opine on this soon, and it won't be pretty. Where is that article? I would be curious to see it. I cant find it online.

 

That said, this deal is still only in the initial stages. I would love to see us arguing about not enough seats as opposed to the alternative. No seats at all.

Where is that article? I would be curious to see it. I cant find it online.

If you're talking about the Linda Robertson article, jonny, here ya go ...

 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/7129082.htm

Pac Bell Park was only 40,000 when it opened

you start with 38,000 and expand as needed. Haven't you heard the term coined at Wrigley, you buy your seat, we will install it? Many seats at Wrigley were added because people promised to buy season tix for them.

Yeah, Pac Bell/ SBC has added about 2,000 seats since it opened

I was hoping for somewhere in the 42,000 - 45,000 range, but 38,000 will be cozy...That's a touch larger than Wrigley. Every seat in a park that size would be amazing...Frankly, everyone in Chicago complains about US Cellular's 45,000 seats, especially the Upper Deck, being too far from the field....

You cannot run before you walk, the problem is not how many seats, but that you have them. The profit per employ cost ratio is about the same so profits won't be hurt to much with 38,000. The lease and skybox money is what makes the difference.

PAYING FOR A NEW STADIUM

 

Miami-Dade County officials and the Florida Marlins estimate a new baseball stadium would cost $325 million.

 

The county would pitch in $73 million.

 

The Marlins would put up $137 million.

 

The rest of the money, about $115 million, would likely need to come from the city of Miami and/or the state.

 

Ideas for state contributions include letting the Marlins keep a $2 million annual tax rebate used to attract sports teams, and allowing the team to keep a percentage of the sales taxes it would generate.

 

This looks like it is going to happen, and the Herald isn't b***hing about it!

I really want the Arena site.

Notice this proposal was intoduced by the commissioners not the mayor or the Marlins, this is a good sign. The seven plus one intro. is better than anything we got before where it was Marlins vs. commission basically.

 

Dade offers a plan to help build stadium

A Miami-Dade proposal for a $325 million stadium would include funding from the county, the Marlins and others. The Orange Bowl site is an early front-runner.

BY OSCAR CORRAL, MARC CAPUTO AND KARL ROSS

ocorral@herald.com

 

On the same day fans cheered the World Champion Florida Marlins with parades in two counties, Miami-Dade government officials provided another boost: a proposal to help the club build a new $325 million stadium.

 

The plan, unveiled Tuesday evening, would have the county contribute $73 million toward construction of a stadium, pending approval by the Miami-Dade County Commission at its upcoming meeting Tuesday.

 

That's almost guaranteed: The proposal was sponsored by seven commissioners, including Chairwoman Barbara Carey-Shuler, enough to ensure its passage.

 

The money would come from the county's convention development tax and a professional sports franchise tax. Both get their funding from a tax on tourist hotels.

 

''That's all we have to pledge right now,'' said County Manager George Burgess, who will be leading the effort to develop a financing plan.

 

According to the proposal, the Marlins have agreed to contribute $137 million toward the stadium, which would have a retractable roof and room for 38,000 fans. No site has been formally proposed, though city officials are strongly considering the area around the Orange Bowl. Also up in the air: where the rest of the money, about $115 million, would come from.

 

Burgess, Marlins President David Samson and Vice Chairman Joel Mael, and Javier Soto, chief of staff for county Mayor Alex Penelas, met with individual county commissioners Tuesday afternoon.

 

The proposed deal was announced at a news conference Tuesday night by Penelas, Samson and Carey-Shuler.

 

Penelas praised the Marlins' pledge of $137 million, calling it ''an extraordinary commitment.'' Two years ago, in a failed bid for a stadium, the club's previous owner, John Henry, did not pledge any money.

 

''They just won a World Series,'' Penelas said. ``They don't have to put their money on the table now. They could have waited until the end.''

 

Penelas said Marlins representatives began negotiating in earnest with Burgess about two weeks ago.

 

NO VOTE

 

Under the plan, the Marlins would handle stadium construction and be responsible for cost overruns. The deal would not need voter approval, unless the county or the city of Miami attempts to raise money through a sales tax or a bond issue.

 

Samson said the club can't survive financially under the terms of its existing lease at Pro Player Stadium with stadium owner H. Wayne Huizenga.

 

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria ''was very clear about what he wanted to do,'' Samson said. ``He wanted a team that made sense. And losing $20 million a year at Pro Player doesn't make sense. He doesn't have an appetite for that.''

 

Samson said the club was ''flexible'' about where the stadium would be built, but he declined to comment about prospective sites.

 

''We are not going to attach ourselves to a site and make demands,'' Samson said.

 

Samson said the club did not intend to discuss the deal further until a financing plan had emerged and a site had been selected, though he suggested the club is seeking private investors to help.

 

If the club knows by March 15 -- the date the county has set as a deadline -- whether a stadium deal is feasible, it could build in time for opening day in April 2007, Samson said. No one addressed why the estimated cost of the stadium, at $325 million, is significantly lower than the $380 million figure used in a previous effort to finance a stadium two years ago.

 

DERMER CRITICAL

 

One critic of the deal surfaced Tuesday. Miami Beach Mayor David Dermer said his city stands to lose about $50 million in bed-tax money it planned on using to refurbish the Miami Beach Convention Center.

 

''I certainly hope that the taxpayers of Miami Beach and the county will not have to foot the bill at the end of the day,'' Dermer said.

 

Though there is no mention in the county proposal of a role for the city of Miami, where a stadium would likely be located, the city is still trying to figure out what kind of financing it is willing to contribute, City Manager Joe Arriola said. While the city is actively searching for a stadium site, no money has been pledged.

 

During the past couple of weeks, city employees have been analyzing aerial photographs of downtown Miami -- from 36th Street south to the Miami River and from 17th Avenue east -- to try to identify potential stadium sites, Miami Commissioner Johnny Winton said.

 

City officials say the Orange Bowl area is emerging as a front-runner. The city already owns the Orange Bowl and some of the land around it.

 

''I think you can take additional land near the Orange Bowl and expand that complex,'' Winton said.

 

Arriola, who has been quietly talking to Marlins executives over the past several months, said the Orange Bowl site ``makes the most sense to the city right now.''

 

Scenarios include building a baseball stadium next to the old structure, or demolishing the Orange Bowl and building a baseball-only facility on the site, Arriola said.

 

Another potential site is the Miami Arena area. But Winton said much of the vacant land surrounding the arena is divided by Metrorail tracks, which would complicate construction.

 

STATE'S ROLE

 

City officials also acknowledge that the state would likely need to pitch in some money for the new stadium.

 

Among the ideas for a state role: allowing the Marlins to keep a $2 million annual tax rebate that the Legislature passed in the 1980s to attract sports teams, or redirecting a percentage of sales-tax money back to the stadium to help pay construction costs.

 

Ron Book, a former Marlins lobbyist who watched the team's stadium plans repeatedly fail in the Legislature over the past three years, said the team could get what it wants if it avoids past mistakes. Among them, he said: Factions in Miami-Dade's notoriously fractious political environment fought against each other, the financing plans for the stadium changed constantly, and everyone involved underestimated the price of a stadium, which he said is likely to be in the $400 million to $450 million range.

 

Gov. Jeb Bush's top economic advisor, Pam Dana, initiated a conference call Monday to gauge the mood of two of Miami-Dade's most powerful Republican lawmakers in the state House: Marco Rubio and Gaston Cantens. Cantens was behind a failed push in 2000 to build a stadium for the Marlins with money from cruise ship passengers. A year later, Rubio backed a failed plan to use city parking garage money as a source.

 

Rubio declined to comment. Cantens said Tuesday that Dana was simply collecting information, not proposing legislation. He said he would need time to study any proposal, and that he would be most supportive of a law that doesn't rob Miami-Dade of money and services.

 

Herald staff writers Lesley Clark, Peter Wallsten, Trenton Daniel, Barry Jackson and Nicole White contributed to this report.

I really want the Arena site.

The cost of the arena site is too much. The Metrorail tracks would create problems for construction. The OB would be cheaper and they can build parking garages in the area or let people park at the MetroRail/Tri-Rail stations and Airport parking lots and have shuttles from the parking lots/MetroRail station to the OB.

 

From Tri-Rail.com (How to use Tri-Rail to get to OBS)

Orange Bowl Stadium

http://www.orangebowl.org

Tri-Rail Station: Metrorail Transfer Station

 

Address/Directions/Contact Information:

1501 Northwest 3rd Street,

Miami

(305) 643-7100

 

 

Metrorail to Civic Center Station. Short walk south to Stadium. Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) provides shuttle bus service to some events from Metrorail?s Culmer Station.