Marlins Stadium Update No. 13,502
Although Marlins President David Samson and others had hoped for a vote today by the Miami-Dade County Commission on a “Baseball Stadium Agreement,” County Commission Chairman Bruno Barreiro has decided to delay the item until the commission’s Jan. 10 meeting.
Don’t read anything into the delay: it just means county, city of Miami and Marlins officials are continuing to negotiate the finer points of the agreement commonly referred to as a “BSA.” Those involved are more optimistic than ever that this will finally be the deal that makes a stadium happen. It’s hard for me to believe I just wrote that – after all, I’ve been covering this issue – and countless versions of ballpark plans – for more than eight years.
The basic framework on which the sides are negotiating is a $525 million, 37,000-seat retractable-roof ballpark at the site of the Orange Bowl stadium. The city and county would contribute $370 million from tourist and sports facilities taxes and a general obligation bond county voters approved in 2004 to renovate the Orange Bowl but which commissioners agreed Tuesday to put toward the ballpark project. The Marlins say they will contribute $155 million, which they will privately finance.
The deal will be for 30 years and will require the Marlins to cover cost overruns, except in the event that the city or county are responsible for delays. The team will not be able to move until the end of the agreement or whenever the bonds are paid off, whichever is later. If the team is sold during the life of the agreement, the city and county would receive a percentage of the increase in value of the team since the date of the agreement.
Yes, the plan is to build at the Orange Bowl because that's the only option available to the team right now. As for whether the team has the money to contribute to the plan, Samson says: “When we negotiate something we have to be able to stand by what we will negotiate. Obviously you can’t offer something that you don’t think you can do.”
If the BSA is approved by both the county and city commissions, then the next few months will be spent creating the final documents that spell out the financing, construction and other elements of the deal. That’s what Samson calls “turning a 50-page document into a 400-page document.”
The plan calls for construction to begin by November 2008 and the ballpark to open by April 2011. The team would be renamed the Miami Marlins by the 2011 season.
I know lots of people are upset by a possible name change. Why are you so concerned about it?
Comments
I think "Miami Marlins" is just fine if it comes with a stadium attached. They will get a boost from the sales of new apparel and such. Hopefully they will use some of that money to buy back some of the talent we traded away. I wonder what the name of the stadium will be and if the color scheme will change.
Posted by: Francisco | December 20, 2007 10:13 PM
all this means is the January 10, meeting will be delayed to February 5. And the February 5 meeting will be delayed until sometime in March. I am tired of these articles...i don't even bother finishing them cause they're pointless. honestly, why even write about this crap? when its all said and done, there will be no stadium.
Posted by: Daniel | December 20, 2007 1:17 PM
Seeing as how the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County are assisting in this endeavor, it only makes sense that the team name would be changed. This is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things as most of the attending fan base will come from Miami-Dade County and hopefully fans outside of Miami will realize that Miami is the major metropolitan area in South FLorida and it only makes sense now that there is another team in Florida.
In terms of attendance, I think most will find that the Orange Bowl site will not be as problematic as they imagine. Consider that most games are played on weekday evenings. Also consider that a large portion of the popoulation financially able to attend games conduct business in the downtown area. Now, I know much has been made of the difference between the "downtown site" and the "Orange Bowl site." We are talking about a difference of one or two miles. Taking into account the fact that a large number of people work near the stadium, transportation will not be an issue. For those who don't work downtown, it should not be much more dificult. Traffic patterns in Miami are such that heading east to the orange bowl during peak traffic times is not an issue. Remember, during peak traffic hours the majority of cars on the road are exiting the city, not entering it.
Speaking to the congestion of the area surrounding the stadium, this situation will work itself out. I say this because there will be parking provided with a stadium plan. Also, slowly but surely the area around the proposed site will be upgraded by businesses hoping to capitalize on the revenue created by a new stadium.
All in alll ,this is a step in the right direction and it feels as id we are closer than ever to having a stadium of our own and in turn a team that does not turn over every two to three years.
Posted by: Joey | December 20, 2007 12:44 PM
I may have commented on this before, but ideally, the team would be called the South Florida Marlins. But failing that, I have no problem with the Miami Marlins.
I know Huizenga liked naming teams "Florida" to appear to a wider fan base, but it's kind of silly to think that people upstate care about a team down here. I don't think a guy in the Panhandle would actually think, "Well, they play in Miami, but they're named for Florida, so I guess they're MY team, too!"
But man, the Orange Bowl site is pretty bad...I'm really worried about dropping a stadium in a congested, unattractive area. It's one thing for 6 UM games a year, but will people actually go there over the course of an entire baseball season?
Posted by: Go Fish | December 20, 2007 11:46 AM