February 08, 2007
Marlins prez: No state money, no stadium
Florida Marlins president David Samson said this week that stadium talks are "progressing in a way that I hope results in a deal," but that the state would have to be willing to cough up some funds: "Without the state's financial help there's no stadium deal as we see it right now." Of course, he's said all that before.
New Gov. Charlie Crist did say he was "favorably inclined" toward putting state money into the deal - but then, so did the old governor. The more important variable is the state legislature, which has repeatedly declined to kick in towards a Marlins stadium, in part because they're already giving state tax money to the team's old owner.
Meanwhile, Samson said that the Marlins' league-bottom payroll "would not go up at all during construction" of a new stadium, and would be "average," he hoped, once a new home opened, which would be no sooner than 2011. Now there's a p.r. campaign: "If You Build It, We Won't Suck (As Much)."
