This is a bit old but it still needs to be addressed. The Marlins front office is thinking of using the stadium for multiple events.
Marlins president David Samson envisions the stadium may some day play host to football, soccer, concerts, conventions and maybe even the Final Four basketball tournament.
Inquiries are being made to see if the 37,000-seat, retractable-roof park could house a number of other events, which would maximize the building year-round.
"We are going to engage in conversations with the architect about putting in a soccer field or a football field, to see if one can fit for special occasions," Samson said. "We're not looking at it for a season, but for perhaps a bowl game. We're looking for configurations for different things."
Okay, that's fine just so long as the events are in offseason or at the start of 15 game road trip giving the excellent Marlins ground crew time to fix the field. The Marlins having their own stadium should mean not having to play on a field hacked up by some other event. If a football or soccer field fits in the grounds, and it probably will, then no problem. As long as the scheduling is right.
The story goes on.
"We're planning on configurations for concerts," Samson said. "We're looking for configurations for the World Cup. We're looking for configurations for conventions and what's required for that. We're looking for configurations for soccer and maybe even for football.
"The architect is looking at all of that. But mainly for us, it is a baseball facility. We're looking at possible other uses of it and trying to plan for those uses."
Mainly for us? I don't like the sound of that and here is the reason why.
"The first week or so of the new year, we're really getting down into details of what is going on inside the building," Samson said. "Now, we're getting specific about concession equipment and what kind of concessions are going to be where, in what part of the ballpark. We're looking at specific seats and how wide seats will be in different places inside the ballpark. We're looking at specific viewing angles where each seat will be and what their sightline will be."
Sightlines are a huge part of the fan experience at the stadium. At JRS unless you are sitting inside of the bases the sightlines suck. I know, I have sat outside of them. If there is a rather large crowd and you are sitting across from the bullpen you can't see jack. Well, other than the guys in the bullpen. Whatever they do, the sightlines need to be for baseball only, not some modified piece of crap that made every multipurpose stadium built in the 70's bad for every event held there. The fans have waited a long time for a baseball stadium and we want a baseball stadium. If they want to hold other events there, fine. But let the soccer, football and concert patrons sit sideways and get a crick in their neck. We have done our time.