Columnist is Onboard

by craig on Apr 9, 2006 6:58 AM EDT in News and Rumors

Brian Studnicky addresses the lack of initiative for a baseball stadium in South Florida.

What catches my attention the most is that Washington, D.C., has finalized a deal with Major League Baseball to build a ballpark for their Nationals.

Kansas City voters have agreed to let their tax dollars renovate their two stadiums for the Royals and the Chiefs.

New York City Council and the Yankees cleared another hurdle toward funding a new Yankee Stadium.

So tell me, how many times does a team have to win a World Series until the fans, elected officials and state Legislature appreciate them?

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Would they mean more to this community as the San Antonio Marlins?

If we don't want to be the laughingstock of the entire sports world, the time is now to get behind Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez and Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and keep the Marlins from moving before Judge Nelson Wolff escorts them out of town.

The significance of the above story is that the news media may be coming onboard for a new stadium. If it is going to happen the media needs be a willing participant in getting a stadium deal done.

Talks between the front office and local officials are not far from stalled at this point. The press can play (and should) a vital role in getting the ball rolling again.

Initially the first thought is always the team is threatening to relocate in order to broker a deal for a new stadium. There is of course some truth to this but the team's crappy lease at JRS will eventually expire. As this time draws closer we will get to the point where they are actually looking at viable options for their next home.

I don't think the front office is using San Antonio as leverage against a South Florida deal. I think they are using San Antonio as leverage against the other possible suitors, should it prove necessary to find a new home. San Antonio may well end up presenting the best offer of the relocation candidates. The San Antonio deal, at least for now, is nested in the whole that is relocation.

You may not agree with public financing of sports stadiums and that's fine. But if the Marlins are going to stay in South Florida one necessary component will need to be an agreeable media and the first sign of that came out today.

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Comments

No new stadium

has been built in NY since Shea (I think). There's certainly been nothing new in my lifetime (1984), so it's a little different than your situation in Southern Florida. Also, the Yanks and Mets are paying for most of their stadiums.
I hope you get your park, too.

"If you're in love with the game, you can't turn it on and off like a light. It's something that runs so deep it takes you over.'' ~Billy Martin.

by jscape2000 on Apr 9, 2006 11:53 AM EDT reply actions

If this team is forced out, I'll cry

I will cry for a long time if South Florida loses this team. I will never understand how the stadium is not already built. How can people oppose public funds for a baseball stadium? How can a baseball team with a net worth of $200 million be expected to build a $400 million stadium without public assistance? Multi-BILLION dollar corporations get public assistance all the time to build skyscrapers that cost a fraction of their net worths. Yet baseball stadiums offer much more public use than office buildings.

I don't get it.

by miami220 on Apr 11, 2006 12:12 AM EDT reply actions