Will we be contracted?

I know in certain places we will lose fans but we will gain fans in other places.

No, we will not be contracted! Something worse. Loria will move the team out of Florida or at least out of South Florida. :boo-woo

Will we be contracted?

no

 

worst case scenario is Loria moving the team but thats as likely as me pooping gold bouillon.

No, we will not be contracted! Something worse. Loria will move the team out of Florida or at least out of South Florida. :boo-woo

thats worse?

at least out of South Florida. :boo-woo

That part doesn't sound so bad... at least it'll be in Florida...

Guys, MLB (selig) hate moving teams unless absolutely needed. Why do you think Montreal's move is going at a slower rate than a glacier? They won't be able to find the white knight in shining armour for Montreal like they did for the Giants and White Sox unfortunately. The French Canadian Baseball Economics don't let it work like they do in Toronto where a large corporation (Rogers) owns the Blue Jays.

This is how I see it, if we don't get a ballpark funded by Miami down here:

 

1) Loria would try to find a deep pockets partner and get a stadium built with Private funds

2) Fire sale and keep an under 30 million payroll, that should allow them to break even with the revenue sharing and such from MLB

3) Sell the team and move on

 

The Stadium is so critical for the long term success of this franchise. . .

This is how I see it, if we don't get a ballpark funded by Miami down here:

 

1) Loria would try to find a deep pocket partner and get a stadium build with Private funds

2) Fire sale and keep a 30+- million payroll, that should allow them to break even with the revenue sharing and such from MLB

3) Sell the team and move on

 

The Stadium is so critical for the long term success of this franchise. . .

FreshFish, I think that if Loria can't get a new ballpark built in Miami/South Florida he'll just move the team north. Orlando and Jacksonville are very big markets.

This is how I see it, if we don't get a ballpark funded by Miami down here:

 

1) Loria would try to find a deep pocket partner and get a stadium build with Private funds

2) Fire sale and keep a 30+- million payroll, that should allow them to break even with the revenue sharing and such from MLB

3) Sell the team and move on

 

The Stadium is so critical for the long term success of this franchise. . .

FreshFish, I think that if Loria can't get a new ballpark built in Miami/South Florida he'll just move the team north. Orlando and Jacksonville are very big markets. Who's going to fund a ballpark? Jacksonville maybe, Orlando no way.

 

2 teams within 1.5 hour drive?

This is how I see it, if we don't get a ballpark funded by Miami down here:

 

1) Loria would try to find a deep pocket partner and get a stadium build with Private funds

2) Fire sale and keep a 30+- million payroll, that should allow them to break even with the revenue sharing and such from MLB

3) Sell the team and move on

 

The Stadium is so critical for the long term success of this franchise. . .

FreshFish, I think that if Loria can't get a new ballpark built in Miami/South Florida he'll just move the team north. Orlando and Jacksonville are very big markets. Who's going to fund a ballpark? Jacksonville maybe, Orlando no way.

 

2 teams within 1.5 hour drive? good point, freshfish. there's a reason why tampa never got an NBA franchise...

2 teams within 1.5 hour drive?

Look at it this way... Orlando rarely gets D-Rays coverage. Plus than that bullet-train would be useful for a Rays vs. Marlins World Series. :lol

We need a new stadium.

The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville is a new ballpark built for the AA Southern League Suns, but intended to catch the big AAA International League team they want and can be expanded to 14,000 in a week. I believe they can make it MLB ready over an offseason need be and have the money to do it. JAX passed a 1/2 cent tax that has plenty of money for spur of the moment moves like that.

 

The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville

http://www.coj.net/Departments/Jacksonvill...Authority/8.htm

 

BTW, JAX is the largest city in the state of Florida.

Tampa Bay is technically South Florida.

The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville is a new ballpark built for the AA Southern League Suns, but intended to catch the big AAA International League team they want and can be expanded to 14,000 in a week. I believe they can make it MLB ready over an offseason need be and have the money to do it. JAX passed a 1/2 cent tax that has plenty of money for spur of the moment moves like that.

 

The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville

http://www.coj.net/Departments/Jacksonvill...Authority/8.htm

 

BTW, JAX is the largest city in the state of Florida.

I rarely drive up to Jacksonville but it's would be an easy drive up north... I-4 to I-95 to Jacksonville.

Who's gonna take a 3-5 hour drive from South Florida to Tampa Bay to watch the D-Rays? :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Who's gonna take a 3-5 hour drive from South Florida to Tampa Bay to watch the D-Rays? :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Would you do it if we had a Marlins vs. D-Rays World Series? :shifty

The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville is a new ballpark built for the AA Southern League Suns, but intended to catch the big AAA International League team they want and can be expanded to 14,000 in a week. I believe they can make it MLB ready over an offseason need be and have the money to do it. JAX passed a 1/2 cent tax that has plenty of money for spur of the moment moves like that.

 

The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville

http://www.coj.net/Departments/Jacksonvill...Authority/8.htm

 

BTW, JAX is the largest city in the state of Florida.

14k or 20k capacity stadium won't cut it. JAX may be the largest city in the state of Florida, but is not even close to the market potential of South Florida.

I would laugh if the D-Rays made thw World Series. And no, I probably wouldn't do it.

BTW, JAX is the largest city in the state of Florida.

LOL, I was waiting for someone to make that argument. I must admit I was a little disappointed it took this long. Miami is BY FAR the largest metropolitan area in Florida. The city of Miami proper is tiny as peas because they keep breaking it in pieces every year due to mismanagement and money problems. Last I checked, "Miami"'s population is technically only like 300,000. That's why they keep trying to dissolve it completely and just call the whole county Miami. Regardless, if you add up the metro-Miami area, it far outsizes any other metro area in Florida. JAX itself isn't even that metropolitan; it's essentially a county.

http://www.jaxsuns.com/

 

Has tour of ballpark.

 

Thanks to the 359,979 fans who visited the Baseball Grounds in 2003!

 

With 70 home games that means about 5,143 fans per game. The ballpark only currently seats 10,000.

 

Not bad for a bad minor league team in a city that has been ignored by baseball for so long.

BTW, JAX is the largest city in the state of Florida.

LOL, I was waiting for someone to make that argument. I must admit I was a little disappointed it took this long. Miami is BY FAR the largest metropolitan area in Florida. The city of Miami proper is tiny as peas because they keep breaking it in pieces every year due to mismanagement and money problems. Last I checked, "Miami"'s population is technically only like 300,000. That's why they keep trying to dissolve it completely and just call the whole county Miami. Regardless, if you add up the metro-Miami area, it far outsizes any other metro area in Florida. JAX itself isn't even that metropolitan; it's essentially a county. That's why the can have their own football team and sell out every game while the Dolphins who are better can't sellout playoff games?

I seriously don't think Jacksonville could fill enough seats to make a MLB franchise financially viable. When your only NON-blacked out NFL home game of the season is against the Dolphins, you know there's problems...

BTW, JAX is the largest city in the state of Florida.

LOL, I was waiting for someone to make that argument. I must admit I was a little disappointed it took this long. Miami is BY FAR the largest metropolitan area in Florida. The city of Miami proper is tiny as peas because they keep breaking it in pieces every year due to mismanagement and money problems. Last I checked, "Miami"'s population is technically only like 300,000. That's why they keep trying to dissolve it completely and just call the whole county Miami. Regardless, if you add up the metro-Miami area, it far outsizes any other metro area in Florida. JAX itself isn't even that metropolitan; it's essentially a county. That's why the can have their own football team and sell out every game while the Dolphins who are better can't sellout playoff games? HAHAHAHA, I would *LOVE* to see verification of JAX's home sellouts this season. ROFLMAO!!!