Oh, but lets please build a stadium for the few hundred or thousand people that come to these boring exibitions. 14,795 is the average attendance this year. So if we build a $515 stadium for these fans, that means it will cost $34,809 per fan.
I bet if you went to each one and asked them if they would take the money home or contribute it to the Marlins stadium, the stadium wouldnt be built. I think this is alot of money to invest for 14,795 fans.

Whether a fan is a multi millionaire or just some average fan it is such a turn off to be slammed by outrageous food and drink prices, along with parking, etc. I don't care how good the team is no one wants to be taken advantage of.

Les, by far the post of the day. I couldn't agree with you any more then I already do. I'm sick of people from other markets looking down at our situation and judging based on "facts" (as they like to call them) they pull out of their rear end.

First of all, The stadium is too far away from PEOPLE, and the people that do live there are not going to have alot of disposable income in the Miami Gardens/Norwood/Ives Estates area. The Latins that live in central Miami would have to brave 836 and 826 in rush hour traffic to get to the games, not worth it.

I live in Kendall, so only Saturday and Sunday games are even an option for me.

Once the new stadium is built, Metrorail will be able to get us to the games quickly.

And yes, the constant insulting of the fans with scratch off tickets as "giveaways", the tossing aside of loyal players, the lack of interest in signing decent free agents, the lowest BY FAR team salary, and the whining about not making enough money when Forbes lists them as the biggest winners in baseball profits makes a person less eager to fork over 10 dollars to park in an open field (with plenty of room, and yes I know Wayne gets that money free and clear), plus tickets at full price (when a discounted price would lead to more fans), plus the concessions they have there, when I can see the game at home, in AC, with better food, and INSTANT REPLAYS.

Loria destroyed the Expos, tried to do the same with the Marlins, and somehow we keep winning despite the stingy ownership. I know Mets fans say their owner is stingy, but C'mon, he plays over 5 times what Loria does, and WITHOUT revenue sharing money coming his way.

Hanley sticks around, the kids will recognise a player for a few years. Look how Braves kids have Chipper, Yankee kids have Jeter, and Reds kids have Griffey. MY kids have to relearn the ENTIRE rotation and batting order every 3-4 years. Name another World Series team that tossed away all their players, while the Marlins have done it TWICE. Tough to build loyalty when you don't SHOW loyalty.

Reasons why the attendance at Marlins games is not as good as it should be:

1. Fans have had their hearts broken several times with all the contraction and relocation talks and with the fire sales. It continued last winter with Cabrera and Dontrelle's departure. It may have made "baseball sense" but most fans felt betrayed again. Signing Ramirez to a long term contract helps. They need to do the same with Uggla to show fans they are spending the money they saved and are planning to keep the future stars.
2. Many South Florida fans are elderly and prefer to stay at home and faithfully watch every game on TV.
3. Wining is important. Attendance will slowly improve as the team continues to win consistently.
4. Daytime games are brutal in the sun in South Florida. I have season tickets for the Marlins but never go to Sunday games.
5. Long drives that eat up a quarter of your gas tank may keep crowds thin during these $4/gallon days.
6. Free parking would be nice but this will never happen here.

Having a team that wins and is in contention for the playoffs, not trading away fan favorites, a new retractable roof stadium with available public transportation is the combination that will help attendance greatly.

Anyone else think we need a new administration in the office that will help the economy to the point where we all can afford to go to a ball game again? Thanx Republicans, thank you all.

Anyone else think we need a new administration in the office that will help the economy to the point where we all can afford to go to a ball game again? Thanx Republicans, thank you all.

Ok, Sarah I don't know if your aware but last I check Huzeignia and not the Marlins control parking, not sure who controls the concessions revenue.

I am not defending Loira or his group, in fact dislike them immensely, but there a basic South Florida attitude on general laziness that most people outright ignore. The same with Panthers games, and with Dolphins ones when they losing, Fans will not attend teams that are losing and in most cases even when they winning. They have no really interest or desire to it seems like.

I am an avid Marlins fan, and attend as many games at home as I can, usually 15-20 per season. I truly believe that those of us my age (54) who come from other parts of the country (in my case New Jersey) have allegiances to the teams we grew up with. I was a Mets fan growing up, but turned away from them to the Phillies when the Mets foolishly traded Lenny Dykstra to the Phils in the 80's. I was a Florida resident at that time, having moved here after college graduation in 1975. Never, would I root for the braves, who by default was our home team here is south florida via the tbs television network. when we finally got a team in 1993, I was at the opener, and being a baseball fanatic, immediately became a fan. I will never badmouth Wayne Huizenga for selling off the 1997 world championship team, because if it weren't for him, we would not have a team at all. My kids never saw a Mets game. they were introduced to the sport as young kids in south Florida. Although they are out of college now and living in the Northeast, they are still avid Marlins fans, and only visit Shea stadium when the Marlins come to town. This is the generation of south floridians who will fill the marlins ballpark, despite the allegiances their parents had and still have. In three years those 15 through 30 year olds will fill the ballpark, as long as the Marlins continue to field a competitive team. As in all of mlb, it will help when the ownership signs some of the stars to longer contracts, like they did with Hanley this year. I have no doubt about this. Maybe then the parents will find that their kids are right, and attend too.