Marlins Get New Stadium Deal
Congratulations to Marlins fans, all seven of them.
The pathetically payrolled franchise was openly shopping itself to potential suitors who might actually care, but the team struck a last second deal to stay in Miami, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The councils for the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County are expected to meet on Thursday to finalize the deal.
The preliminary indications are that the City will contribute $360 million, from mainly tourist taxes, as well as a $50 million bond payment that taxpayers approved in 2004 to renovate the Orange Bowl.
The Marlins would then contribute an additional $155 million to finish the project, probably taken from the money they have been stealing from baseball’s revenue sharing system the past few years.
The team would move from Dolphin Stadium to the new venue upon its completion in April 2011.
The deal affords the Marlins the opportunity, that they didn’t take initially, to forge a connection with the city of Miami. Hopefully, they will have the sense to appeal to the Cuban community by providing a Spanish-friendly environment and low ticket prices.
However, something in this reeks of Bud Selig ramming another ill thought out stadium plan down unsuspecting taxpayers’ throats.
If winning two World Series titles can’t garner support for the team in that city, it’s hard to see how a retractable roof and a re-branding can really help.
