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New Marlins’ Stadium Even Closer

Tuesday afternoon, the fight to get the Florida Marlins a baseball only stadium cleared a major hurdle. The Marlins have long been fighting to get their own place to call home and solidify their future in South Florida. The Marlins do have a $515 million, 37,000 seat, baseball only stadium plan all put together. This new stadium is planned to be placed on the sight of the old Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The Marlins have long sought this retractable roof stadium to help avoid the many humid days and rainy nights that Miami experiences.

The new ballpark is part of a greater project by the government to revitalize the Little Havana area, a fact that the government has pushed in its shared battle with the Marlins to get this stadium approved and under construction. Tuesday judge Jeri Beth Cohen ruled that the Marlins/Government plan meets the key “public purpose” test. This is a crucial step because the 7 lawsuits filed against the Marlins/Government claim that the use of this land for this purpose, and with taxpayer money, does not meet any public good.

While the majority of the Marlins ballpark is being paid for with taxpayer money, in this case it is not a bad thing. Normally we see owners hold cities hostage with threats of “buy me a new stadium or I’ll take my team somewhere that will”. However, with the University of Miami Hurricane football team now playing up at Dolphin Stadium, it was inevitbale that the site of the Orange Bowl would eventually have been transformed using public money in the interest of “revitalizing” the area. Is it really a bad thing that the Marlins should get to profit in the process? The government has a roughly $3 billion revitalization plan for the area, so in the grand scheme of things, the percentage of that being devoted to a new stadium is small.

Major League Baseball is full of examples where teams have requested new stadiums with the promise of signing new players and putting a winner on the field. Unfortunately those examples never work out. The Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals are the two most recent examples. Pittsburgh citizens forked over the cash for PNC Park, and the Pirates still stink. The Nationals just opened their new stadium this season, and we all know how “good” they are. The Marlins on the other hand have already showed they are willing, with the promise of this new park on the horizon, to spend some cash. Owner Jeffrey Loria (and by no means am I taking his side here, he’s an example of a terrible owner) gave Hanley Ramirez $60 million over the next 7 years to remain in Miami. Now that he has seen judgement fall in his favor for the new stadium, one can only hope he will step up and keep some other key players, and perhaps even ADD players this offseason instead of hosting another fire sale of Marlin talent.

Viewing 3 Comments

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    Minnesota, Pittsburgh, and Washington all have stadiums (in Minnesota's case not finished) paid for by taxpayer dollars. I'm sure they were all controversial too. At least the Marlins stadium is part of a broad package to try and revitalize an area.

    It shouldn't matter whether or not the area is actually revitalized...Cities spend countless millions attempting this all over the country, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't....If the Marlins can profit in the process, why not?! We want to keep them and this allows for it!
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    Really, I don't get why people complain about their tax money going towards
    stadiums. They say that they don't need the new stadium, and they'd rather
    see the team leave and go somewhere else. However, having pro sports teams
    around is a major boost to the economy, therefore it's a good idea to keep
    them happy. It's hard to see it sometimes though.

    I live in Minnesota. When the NHL went on strike, all the businesses near
    the Xcel Energy Center where the Minnesota Wild play, suffered, nearly to
    the point of going out of business. Even though the Marlins might not draw
    in the same crowds that other teams do in MLB, or other leagues for that
    matter, but there is no doubt in my mind that it would significantly affect
    local restaurants and retail outlets to lose the team.

    Basically, people that complain about paying the tax for the new stadium
    should keep their mouths closed, and do what's best for the region.
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    Tax me I can afford it. I want a new stadium. I'm not happy about the location though. They should have put it in Broward County. They had a real opportunity to make something like a Fenway Park or a Wrigley Field with the stadium in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The area around the Orange Bowl has been dilapidated since I was born. Great food, but hate the drive.
 
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