not big enough to be an article but it's from the miami herald.

 

The Marlins are expected to respond to the Orange Bowl proposal in the next week to 10 days. The county has set a deadline of March 15 for a complete deal.

 

C/O Miami Herald

Nice.

 

Come on take it.

we need a stadium, the whole world knows this and if the orange bowl is our only alternative .... than im all for it

At this point, I'm for anything to get us the revenue we deserve. I swear if Wayne Huizena makes another penny off of the Marlins, I'm gonna throw up.

At this point, I'm for anything to get us the revenue we deserve. I swear if Wayne Huizena makes another penny off of the Marlins, I'm gonna throw up.

Whoops, he already did. Lousy lease deal....

The Fish cannot afford to go from a lousy lease deal to a slightly less lousy deal wherever they play next.

 

They need a roof, naming rights, 100% of the private (read corporate) boxes and a good percentage of the food and parking revenue. Otherwise they are just jumping from the frying pan and into the fire.

 

None of the above (and probably other) revenue sources will flow in any significant amount to the Marlins if they go to the OB under the published offer. The City expects to take a significant (read the majority) of those revenue streams to finance, in part, their obligations for reconstruction.

 

The same holds true for naming rights. The city will take a big chunch of that revenue too. They have to. The city simply cannot afford to do otherwise. The deal presented to the City Commission a few weeks ago makes clear their intention to tap all facets of stadium operations a statement of fact.

 

For the deal to work the Marlins must have a roof, control over construction (of at least their portion of the facility) and a minimum of 70% of monies available from the primary revenue sources otherwise they're doomed.

 

Going to the OB guarantees two things. The Fish stay here. The Fish will perpetually be a low revenue franchise unable to keep pace with the economic requirements of modern baseball.

 

Every time I think of the OB project I think of MIA and what's happening there with the terminal food service. My guess is as Gittens has her way and the crony-connected food service companies at MIA get the boot, they are going to be the people running concessions in the atrium between the two stadiums. A terrifying thought.

 

And then there's parking. What parking? Someone will aggregate a number of lots and build a garage but it won't be the Marlins. The construction cost per space of building a new garage today, not to mention the land acquisition costs, mean only the city or county can finance this kind of project. And if they do they'll take 70-80% of the revenue to finance the debt, leaving the Marlins in the same position they are in now. Unfortunately, the way it translates to the field is it means trading a Cabrera one or two years sooner not signing another player to a longterm deal. It doesn't mean we can't repeat the successes of 2003 here and there but it does mean we will always be at a competive disadvantage when it comes to signing performance-driven marquee players or even holding onto our own.

 

Perhaps the Marlins will negotiate a deal more to their liking in the days ahead with the city of Miami. If it has to be the OB so be it, but I just don;t see it happening unless the city significantly ammends their offer.

The Fish cannot afford to go from a lousy lease deal to a slightly less lousy deal wherever they play next.

 

They need a roof, naming rights, 100% of the private (read corporate) boxes and a good percentage of the food and parking revenue.

Whenever I heard statments like this, I just think of the phrase, "Beggers can't be choosey."

 

I think some people need to remember that, at this point in time, we are most definately begging for a stadium.

The Fish cannot afford to go from a lousy lease deal to a slightly less lousy deal wherever they play next.

 

They need a roof, naming rights, 100% of the private (read corporate) boxes and a good percentage of the food and parking revenue.

Whenever I heard statments like this, I just think of the phrase, "Beggers can't be choosey."

 

I think some people need to remember that, at this point in time, we are most definately begging for a stadium.

So how exactly would you go about turning the Marlins around from a money losing enterprise to one that at least broke-even annually without a large percentage of the various revenue streams available to other organizations?

 

What good could it possibly be for the Marlins to be one step out of insolvency for the next 25 years?

The Fish cannot afford to go from a lousy lease deal to a slightly less lousy deal wherever they play next.

 

They need a roof, naming rights, 100% of the private (read corporate) boxes and a good percentage of the food and parking revenue.

Whenever I heard statments like this, I just think of the phrase, "Beggers can't be choosey."

 

I think some people need to remember that, at this point in time, we are most definately begging for a stadium. Josh is right!

The Fish cannot afford to go from a lousy lease deal to a slightly less lousy deal wherever they play next.

 

They need a roof, naming rights, 100% of the private (read corporate) boxes and a good percentage of the food and parking revenue.

Whenever I heard statments like this, I just think of the phrase, "Beggers can't be choosey."

 

I think some people need to remember that, at this point in time, we are most definately begging for a stadium. Josh is right! Wow....The Prez is right! I guess it is true that there is a first time for everything :lol

Marlins2003,

That's why a shared stadium (similar to Bank One Ballpark) on the OB site benefits the Marlins, Hurricanes and the city of Miami.

 

City - no need to condemn land, saves on construction costs, gets the Orange Bowl game back from North Miami

Marlins - new stadium, better skyboxes, shared expenses

UM - a place to play, better parking situation

Marlins2003,

That's why a shared stadium (similar to Bank One Ballpark) on the OB site benefits the Marlins, Hurricanes and the city of Miami.

 

City - no need to condemn land, saves on construction costs, gets the Orange Bowl game back from North Miami

Marlins - new stadium, better skyboxes, shared expenses

UM - a place to play, better parking situation

 

Rferry, I don't mean this to be argumentative but how does the city save on construction costs? Their plan is for the city would do all the construction and that should add, not subtract from construction costs if recent city constructed projects are any guideline.

 

The Marlins' theory always was to take politics and all that goes with it out of the equation. A stadium built by the city will probably cost 20-30% more than if the Marlins were contracting out the work.

 

And there's no parking, unless you think the guy accross the street, or down the street, is about to kick back $10 a car to the Marlins when somebody parks in their yard?

The city would save on costs by building just one stadium, instead of two side by side, or three halfs, or one on the OB site and one elsewhere.

Marlins2003,

That's why a shared stadium (similar to Bank One Ballpark) on the OB site benefits the Marlins, Hurricanes and the city of Miami.

 

City - no need to condemn land, saves on construction costs, gets the Orange Bowl game back from North Miami

Marlins - new stadium, better skyboxes, shared expenses

UM - a place to play, better parking situation

 

Rferry, I don't mean this to be argumentative but how does the city save on construction costs? Their plan is for the city would do all the construction and that should add, not subtract from construction costs if recent city constructed projects are any guideline.

 

The Marlins' theory always was to take politics and all that goes with it out of the equation. A stadium built by the city will probably cost 20-30% more than if the Marlins were contracting out the work.

 

And there's no parking, unless you think the guy accross the street, or down the street, is about to kick back $10 a car to the Marlins when somebody parks in their yard? I agree with you. My biggest concern about this proposal is having the City of Miami control the operation.

 

They don't even have the funds to pay for the 100 Million renovation of the OB that they promised to UM. They want to suck the 75 mil from the county to pay for that commitment. This is a bunch of BS, but the City is on the driver's seat. I just wish an alternate site in Dade county is proposed outside the Banana Repuclic or City of Miami.

The Fish cannot afford to go from a lousy lease deal to a slightly less lousy deal wherever they play next.

 

They need a roof, naming rights, 100% of the private (read corporate) boxes and a good percentage of the food and parking revenue. Otherwise they are just jumping from the frying pan and into the fire.

 

None of the above (and probably other) revenue sources will flow in any significant amount to the Marlins if they go to the OB under the published offer. The City expects to take a significant (read the majority) of those revenue streams to finance, in part, their obligations for reconstruction.

 

The same holds true for naming rights. The city will take a big chunch of that revenue too. They have to. The city simply cannot afford to do otherwise. The deal presented to the City Commission a few weeks ago makes clear their intention to tap all facets of stadium operations a statement of fact.

 

For the deal to work the Marlins must have a roof, control over construction (of at least their portion of the facility) and a minimum of 70% of monies available from the primary revenue sources otherwise they're doomed.

 

Going to the OB guarantees two things. The Fish stay here. The Fish will perpetually be a low revenue franchise unable to keep pace with the economic requirements of modern baseball.

 

Every time I think of the OB project I think of MIA and what's happening there with the terminal food service. My guess is as Gittens has her way and the crony-connected food service companies at MIA get the boot, they are going to be the people running concessions in the atrium between the two stadiums. A terrifying thought.

 

And then there's parking. What parking? Someone will aggregate a number of lots and build a garage but it won't be the Marlins. The construction cost per space of building a new garage today, not to mention the land acquisition costs, mean only the city or county can finance this kind of project. And if they do they'll take 70-80% of the revenue to finance the debt, leaving the Marlins in the same position they are in now. Unfortunately, the way it translates to the field is it means trading a Cabrera one or two years sooner not signing another player to a longterm deal. It doesn't mean we can't repeat the successes of 2003 here and there but it does mean we will always be at a competive disadvantage when it comes to signing performance-driven marquee players or even holding onto our own.

 

Perhaps the Marlins will negotiate a deal more to their liking in the days ahead with the city of Miami. If it has to be the OB so be it, but I just don;t see it happening unless the city significantly ammends their offer.

So horribly, horribly true. Moving to the OB changes nothing but the team sticking around. No new money, no new roof, no long contracts, baited players (Cabs, jbeck, etc.). If this is the best plan availbable and the alternative to the plan is for the fish to leave Miami then theres no decision is there? Unless they want to move them to Albuqerque, then I'm all for getting them outta that stinkhole Miami

 

jk