Miami Marlins Keep Lying About Stadium

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frankd4 topcommenter

loria did not INVENT how to screw municipalities, he just followed the script - if it wasn't loria it would have been some other marlins owner - so that issue is a scarecrow

if the people of hialeah are unhappy with the results they have to live with they should simply vote OUT their representatives - period

otherwise everyone else knew that the small increment in through-the-turnstile attendance would come at a premium because the real reason for a roof to avoid weather delays is so TV can show the END of the game within the designated time slot paid for by advertisers

as for cataclysmic money being spent to revive communities, jane jacobs wrote all about that back in 1969, and why the past fifty years of development in the north end of boston isn't required study for municipal planners, i just don't know

it was a good effort to set up dumb comments about castro to incite media interest in a geo-political environment with a short fuse, and market and promote the buzz of the britto, and other attractions, including the roof, BUT the main event should be baseball - no ?

i personally think the area should have opted for more bi-lingual second grade teachers than second base baseball tallent but i guess that can be said by all the stakeholders of miami-dade schools

freakerdude

Awesome article which really doesn't expose anything new about Loria to me. I already knew he was a cheapskate owner all about his own profit.

smdrpepper topcommenter

Every one of these stadium projects are nothing more than a boondoggle. The same thing happened in my former home town of St Louis when the Rams came to town and wanted a new stadium and again when the Cardinals wanted one as well. I was just there a couple of weeks ago and the areas around both are nothing but a sea of closed business although both end up having far better attendance.

The only ones who benefit from these stadiums are the rich people who wanted them in the first place. They get exactly what they want and never have to pay for it.

Just say no to these projects until they start footing the bill and pay attention to the fine print. They are worse than used car salesmen.

McTrouble

The wonderfully written scathing attack fails to point out that the majority of the funds are coming from tourism taxes added to local hotel beds and not directly from Miamian's paychecks. If Miami citizens are sleeping at the Marriott then they are directly contributing yes, but I would say if the major point of the piece is about how "we are" subsidizing millionaire fat-cats, such as Loria, then Elfrink should at least get the facts out there for the readers to consider.

Those funds, which are set aside to pay for convention business related costs, improvements and projects, were designed for making the city a more attractive destination to attract convention visitors (who also take taxis, sleep, dine, drink and generally spend money in Miami and fuel the economic engine of the area). The idea of taxing visitors and getting a ballpark for the locals should have been the slogan all along. I think the name of the park should be “Thanks New York”. Cleary, the locals benefit from the ballpark more than visitors. Still, I submit, funding a ballpark with any tax derived dollars that directly benefit millionaire owners with millionaire players never tastes good.

The “build it and they will come” strategy was not a guessing game in fickle Miami, but rather a brilliant business deal struck by the owners. Was anyone surprised by this?

So what is the answer now Elfrink? Do you want a refund? Will the tar and feathers routine shame Loria into changing his spots? Hardly. The most direct way the citizenry can pad the wallets of the owners is to actually go to a game. I suggest you all go to a few games to at least get a feel for what you have not paid for directly but can actually enjoy. If you don’t go, and you won’t because there is always something else to do in Miami, and even championship teams suffer here, then other baseball teams must share their pie with “revenue sharing”. Loria wins either way.

frankd4 topcommenter

@McTrouble

well according to your logic, and not to be argumentative as this is just an observation, the area around YANKEE STADIUM should then be a vibrant safe self-sustaining hub of major economic activity - no ?

my last visit on a non-game day revealed a yet to be started promised playground, a prison and juvenile delinquent facility, a state courthouse and row upon row of delapidated housing on dirty streets with commercial establishments seeming to barely be holding on and while grans concourse is touting a revival for some time now that spark will be based on residential units with a proximity to midtown and downtown NYC itself

it would seem that the game attendees glide into and out of the ballpark in secured vehicles to the nearest escape on the closest parkway without even thinking about getting out of their cars in that neighborhood - now what makes that any different than hialeah ?

well when it comes to results ON the field i can say the YANKEEs have a distinct advantage of history over the MARLINs even at the current rate of extrapolation

on the other hand the "source" of tax revenue is NOT the issue and that marriott guest could care less if the room tax goes to a ballpark or a classroom - its the PEOPLE of miami that that should matter MOST to - the PEOPLE who live and work and play here

i think that is why the stadium, from a financial aspect, is much much more harm than good as required funds should have gone to quality of life matters such as schools and jobs training and econompic opportunity and security for miami-dade people - not a retractable roof to benefit a few