Stadium news - sort of

The date for the ground breaking has been set.

...team president David Samson announced on Monday that the ceremonial groundbreaking will take place on July 18, the Saturday after the All-Star break.

Festivities at the new site -- on the Orange Bowl grounds in the Little Havana section of Miami -- are scheduled to get under way at 10 a.m. ET and last until noon. The public is invited.

----

Technically, workers will be on the Orange Bowl grounds to start building on July 1. The first few weeks, however, will be devoted to preparing the area for building.

The reason for construction waiting until July 1 is because that is the deadline for any of the parties to opt out of the contract.

One the hurdles yet to be cleared is financing, as Sarah Talalay reports.

That’s assuming, of course, that financing for the new ballpark can be secured, but so far officials are optimistic given the ratings the bonds received so far from the rating agencies last month.

Miami-Dade County officials were to begin selling the bonds Tuesday and Wednesday, but those dates have since been moved to June 17 and 18.

Everything is on go at the moment.