New stadium will break ground in July

Renewed optimism felt trhoughout Marlins organization

By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com

 

JUPITER, Fla. -- Groundbreaking on the new Marlins ballpark is scheduled to take place sometime in July.

An exact date has yet to be set, but around July 6 could be a possibility.

 

"That is certainly a possible day, but we don't have an exact day yet," Marlins president David Samson said late Tuesday afternoon. "We're actually comparing calendars with various parties and trying to pick the best day that will be a good day for the fans and for everybody else."

 

 

The Marlins will be in San Francisco on July 6, so the team must decide whether to put shovels in the ground on a day the club is out of town.

 

There is a renewed optimism surrounding the club now that its long-awaited retractable-roof ballpark will become a reality. On Monday, Miami-Dade County commissioners approved the final documents to move forward with a 37,000-seat park on the Orange Bowl grounds in Miami.

 

By breaking ground in July, the team will be on pace to open in 2012.

 

Because the Marlins' lease with Dolphin Stadium expires after the 2010 season, Samson plans to talk with Dolphins owner Stephen Ross about a one-year extension.

 

"I actually have his name on my call sheet as we speak," Samson said.

 

The Marlins president joked: "I'm trying to figure out exactly what leverage I have."

 

Monday's favorable stadium vote created an immediate impact on Marlins' ticket sales. As of late Tuesday afternoon, more than 15,000 individual game tickets had been sold since the bill's approval. That's more than five times what the club sees on an average day.

 

"We sold 15,000 tickets today, which was a well-above-average ticket day," Samson said, noting the rush is directly related to the stadium vote. "The thing we're seeing most now are the people are taking the seating priority seriously, because they want to get ready for 2012."

 

Tickets are available at marlins.com.

 

"It's great that our fans now can focus only on the field," Samson said.

 

A hot topic for the organization is figuring out what the stadium vote means in terms of the team's payroll. Florida has consistently ranked last or near the bottom in payroll. This year, the Marlins are around $33 million.

 

In the team's new building, Samson said the payroll projects to rank near the middle of the pack in the league.

 

Until the club moves, it plans to keep matching payroll to revenues.

 

"I really don't believe our expectations will change at all, no matter what our payroll is," Samson said.

 

Considering the fact the Marlins have remained highly competitive with a low payroll is a credit to president of baseball operations Admin Beinfest, general manager Michael Hill and their staff.

 

"Sometimes I wonder whether the constraints we put on them leads to better decisions and more disciplined decisions," Samson said. "Then I remember that we've got the most talented baseball organization that there is.

 

"It further occurs to me that the sky will be the limit when they have increased resources. ... I really don't believe our expectations will change at all, no matter what our payroll is."

 

Samson noted that long-term deals are considered when Beinfest approaches the team about them. Last year, Beinfest requested the team consider signing Hanley Ramirez, and the All-Star shortstop inked a six-year, $70 million extension. The front office hasn't approached upper management on doing a long-term deal on anyone else.

 

Samson added: "[More revenues] certainly enables you more flexibility on either long-term deals or just higher short-term deals."

 

Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Samson noted that long-term deals are considered when Beinfest approaches the team about them. Last year, Beinfest requested the team consider signing Hanley Ramirez, and the All-Star shortstop inked a six-year, $70 million extension. The front office hasn't approached upper management on doing a long-term deal on anyone else.

 

That's the paragraph I find interesting, and the bolded part more so.

The Marlins are already reaping the benefits of Monday's new stadium agreement.

 

Long ridiculed for the poor attendance that has plagued their time at Dolphin Stadium, the team sold 15,000 individual game tickets on Tuesday.

 

That's "five times a normal day," team president David Samson told reporters.

 

Great. But will it last, or go the way of Hanley Ramirez' hair?

 

?People are now taking the seating priority seriously because they want to be ready for 2012. It?s great that our fans now can focus only on the field," Samson told the Palm Beach Post. "It?s hard not to recognize that the increase today was due to the stadium agreement."

 

That's just lovely, but the Marlins still expect to sell roughly the same amount of season tickets as they did last year - around 5,000.

 

And with a poor economy and fans' unwillingness to sell their firstborns to afford parking, the truth is the Marlins likely won't see a permanent increase until they put together a few more seasons like 1997 and 2003. Besides, why would anyone spend a mint on season seats when they can stay home and watch the game on their deeply-discounted flat screen HDTV (retailers are giving them away these days).

 

But a beautiful new stadium could change that equation and infuse a little more excitement in the the team and the fan base. At least that's the hope of the Marlins' brass when the stadium opens in 2012 (cross your fingers on that opening date).

 

 

?Our expenses will always match our revenue, and to the extent we can increase revenue in the coming years as a result of the new certainty of our franchise?s direction, that will lead to an increase in payroll," Samson said. "Certainly with the increased revenues we expect from the new ballpark, we would expect to be certainly a middle-of the pack industry average payroll but only time will tell."

 

Just don't be surprised if the Marlins sidle up to elected officials again in the near future if they build it and no one comes.