Florida Marlins Fans' Stadium Dreams Close to Being Fulfilled

Beyond the immediacy of the Marlins roster coming out of spring training, there are few things more significant to the future hopes and dreams of Marlins fans than the disposition of the upcoming stadium vote; which, if approved, would finally give the Marlins a permanent home of their own in Miami.

Since the inception of the Florida Marlins franchise in April 1993, they have played all of their home games at Dolphin Stadium, which was built for football. This has meant they’ve had to share the field with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, along with the Miami Hurricanes’ college football team since they vacated the former Orange Bowl.

Marlins fans know that if the deal isn’t approved for the proposed ‘Miami Ballpark’ as it’s known in official documents, there is ample reason for them to fear the Marlins won’t long be in Miami. The Marlins, for over a decade, have lobbied hard for the citizens of Miami to help finance a new home for them.

Their lobbying efforts, however, were greatly undermined by the fire-sales former owner, Wayne Huizenga, and current owner, John Henry, engineered following the teams' two World Series championships in 1997 and 2003. Following those title runs, the Marlins unloaded nearly every player with talent on their roster for cheap young blood.

Miami and South Florida citizens felt betrayed, and this has obviously had an impact on the Marlins efforts to gain a new home.

Added to this, is the singular decision by the first owner, Wayne Huizenga, to name the Marlins after the state of Florida, rather than the City of Miami. He explained his reasoning for making such a decision (he also named the NHL’s Florida Panthers after the state for the same reason) was to increase the appeal statewide of his teams, and therefore garner greater attendance.

That decision though, appears to have backfired. Rather than drawing more fans from Broward County and Fort Lauderdale, those areas seem apathetic to the Marlins, while the decision decidedly angered local Miami natives; which can partly explain their lack of attendance to Marlins games.

Of note is the fact that if the new stadium deal is approved, the Marlins will henceforth be known as the Miami Marlins. I think the current ownership has realized the folly of Mr. Huizenga, and doesn’t wish to perpetuate it any further.

The proposed new stadium deal, which amounts to $515 million for a beautifully designed retractable-roof ballpark on the site of the old Orange Bowl, requires the Florida Marlins to finance $155 million, Miami-Dade County to finance $347 million, and the City of Miami to finance $13 million.

It’s a complicated deal that’s been in the works since last year, and was originally supposed to be voted upon in January.

That vote, however, was postponed due to the inauguration of President Barak Obama till last Friday, Feb. 13, and there was every reason to believe the approval would finally come. However, the vote was again postponed until March when the Marlins were ambushed by City of Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff when he unexpectedly tried to secure a series of financial concessions at the last minute.

The Marlins were unprepared for this. In fact, they were so unprepared that one of the city commissioners, Michelle Spence-Jones, who is a staunch supporter of the deal, wasn’t even present during the vote; being out on maternity leave.

This really is unforgivable of the Marlins front office though. They should have anticipated the possibility of this happening and had a conference call set up with Spence-Jones.
Further complicating all of this, is the fact the stadium deal needs to be approved not only by the City of Miami commissioners, but Miami-Dade County commissioners as well. There are five commissioners for the city, and thirteen for the county, and if you’ve ever tried to get 18 people to agree on something, you’ll know first hand what a circus it can be.

Of the thirteen county commissioners, nine are required to approve the proposed stadium deal. However, there has been political wrangling on this issue of a super-majority behind the scenes, and many of the commissioners on both sides of the aisle have agreed to vote to waive the requirement for a super-majority vote.

This would mean the Marlins would only need seven votes, rather than nine. It would also allow politicians like Joe Martinez to vote against the deal without killing it, thereby satisfying his constituency. In an area like South Florida, satisfying your constituency is paramount to most politicians.

Of the five city commissioners, only three are required to approve the deal, but four yes votes are necessary in order to waive the competitive bidding resolution to select a contractor for public infrastructure work.

In a vote that took place last February on a similarly proposed deal, the stadium deal got four “yes” votes from city commissioners, with only Tomas Regalado being opposed to it. Commissioner Marc Sarnoff obviously will be a thorn in the side of the Marlins when the vote comes up again in March, but there’s little to worry about.

According to Dr. Ronald W. Cox, an Associate Professor at Florida International University who has followed this issue closely, the stadium deal is assured of passing.

He says he believes Sarnoff’s actions last Friday were simply political posturing designed to help him in his City of Miami mayoral bid against Commissioner Joe Sanchez in the next election. He also believes Spence-Jones will be available during the next vote via teleconferencing, and the stadium deal will go through.

As a fan of the Marlins since their inception, I can’t wait till the approval comes. For it will assure the Marlins a home, and allow them to keep their talent instead of being the greatest farm system for the rest of the majors. If you live in the area, I’d suggest you contact Mr. Sarnoff, and light a fire under his butt to halt his shenanigans.

Whatever he does though, I truly believe the Marlins will get their stadium, and with it, the assurance to Marlins fans that their loyalty was deserved.