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Photos: Marlins Park Is Satisfyingly Empty
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TMC
Apr 12, 2013, 4:58:56 AM4/12/13
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http://deadspin.com/photos-marlins-park-is-satisfyingly-empty-472406862
Well, what do you know? It turns out Jeffrey Loria and David Samson
were lying when they said the Marlins needed a new ballpark to draw.
Maybe they need a new owner.
Announced attendance at last night's game, an 8-0 shellacking by the
Braves, was 13,810. (This number is probably also a lie.) The night
before saw 14,222 turn up at Marlins Park, a $634 million stadium that
was more than 80 percent paid for with public money. This despite free
food, two-for-one tickets, and literally everything else the Marlins
can think of to goose attendance. And it's not that the honeymoon's
over—2012 saw the lowest attendance for a ballpark's first season in
more than 30 years.
http://deadspin.com/marlins-attendance-is-going-to-be-a-disaster-458672192
The team itself is terrible, of course. In Miami, where baseball isn't
and will never be self-sufficient, the only way to make money is not
to spend it. With baseball's second lowest payroll, the Marlins are
off to a 1-8 start, and have been shut out four times already.
But save your sympathy for someone who deserves it. Loria and Samson
pulled off the stadium heist to perfection, threatening to move the
team, promising a South Florida baseball revival, convincing ignorant
local politicians that they didn't have the money to build a new
ballpark themselves. (It later emerged that the Marlins turned a $50
million profit in 2008 and 2009.)
Loria got what he wants already. The stadium, by some estimates,
doubles the value of the Marlins franchise, and rumors that Loria will
unload the team are swirling. Knowing that, local politicians
attempted to include penalties for selling the team in the stadium
bill. Their long-term guarantee? It lasts through 2014.
These ever forward-thinking politicians should have worried more about
how the city and county will still be paying for this ballpark in 35
years.
This, then, is how you build a stadium meant to stay empty. Build it
in a town that will never love baseball. Antagonize the casual fans by
sticking them with the cost of a ballpark they never wanted. Alienate
the diehards by fire-saling the team, and kick out anyone who
complains.
Never in my life have I been happier to post empty stadium porn. From
the past two nights of Marlins Park:
Well, what do you know? It turns out Jeffrey Loria and David Samson
were lying when they said the Marlins needed a new ballpark to draw.
Maybe they need a new owner.
Announced attendance at last night's game, an 8-0 shellacking by the
Braves, was 13,810. (This number is probably also a lie.) The night
before saw 14,222 turn up at Marlins Park, a $634 million stadium that
was more than 80 percent paid for with public money. This despite free
food, two-for-one tickets, and literally everything else the Marlins
can think of to goose attendance. And it's not that the honeymoon's
over—2012 saw the lowest attendance for a ballpark's first season in
more than 30 years.
http://deadspin.com/marlins-attendance-is-going-to-be-a-disaster-458672192
The team itself is terrible, of course. In Miami, where baseball isn't
and will never be self-sufficient, the only way to make money is not
to spend it. With baseball's second lowest payroll, the Marlins are
off to a 1-8 start, and have been shut out four times already.
But save your sympathy for someone who deserves it. Loria and Samson
pulled off the stadium heist to perfection, threatening to move the
team, promising a South Florida baseball revival, convincing ignorant
local politicians that they didn't have the money to build a new
ballpark themselves. (It later emerged that the Marlins turned a $50
million profit in 2008 and 2009.)
Loria got what he wants already. The stadium, by some estimates,
doubles the value of the Marlins franchise, and rumors that Loria will
unload the team are swirling. Knowing that, local politicians
attempted to include penalties for selling the team in the stadium
bill. Their long-term guarantee? It lasts through 2014.
These ever forward-thinking politicians should have worried more about
how the city and county will still be paying for this ballpark in 35
years.
This, then, is how you build a stadium meant to stay empty. Build it
in a town that will never love baseball. Antagonize the casual fans by
sticking them with the cost of a ballpark they never wanted. Alienate
the diehards by fire-saling the team, and kick out anyone who
complains.
Never in my life have I been happier to post empty stadium porn. From
the past two nights of Marlins Park:
Clifford Blau
Apr 12, 2013, 8:52:17 PM4/12/13
to
On Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:58:56 -0700 (PDT), TMC <tmc...@gmail.com>
wrote:
>Announced attendance at last night's game, an 8-0 shellacking by the
>Braves, was 13,810. (This number is probably also a lie.)
It's (probably) not a lie, it just isn't the attendance. That is the
ticket sales.
"Curse you, Don Tickles, Notary Public!"
wrote:
>Announced attendance at last night's game, an 8-0 shellacking by the
>Braves, was 13,810. (This number is probably also a lie.)
ticket sales.
"Curse you, Don Tickles, Notary Public!"
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