Field of Schemes
sports stadium news and analysis

  

This is an archived version of a Field of Schemes article. Comments on this page are closed. To find the current version of the article with updated comments, click here.

January 27, 2009

Marlins tweak stadium plan, release sketches

Mark your calendars: The Florida Marlins stadium votes that were postponed last week have been rescheduled for Friday, Feb. 13. Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess also revealed what he called concessions by the Marlins to make the agreement tastier for the public. To wit:

  • If team owner Jeffrey Loria sells the team within seven years, the county "would almost double its share of any profits." Analysis: This seems to actually mean that the county would get an increased cut of profits from a sale of the team. Given how clever corporations are at hiding profits, though, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a windfall.
  • The team's rent of $2.3 million a year will now go up by 2 percent each year. Analysis: This sounds trivial, but thanks to the magic of compound interest, could actually be worth close to $8 million in present value over time. So, no great shakes, but not chicken feed, either.
  • Cost overruns thanks to scheduling problems or conflicts with contractors will now be paid for by the team, not the public. Analysis: Nice, but again, I trust the Marlins can figure out how to push any overruns into other columns on the cost spreadsheet - say, "infrastructure," which the county and city are still on the hook for.

In related news - you know it wasn't a coincidence - the Marlins released new renderings of their proposed $455 million stadium, which make it look a bit like Houston's Minute Maid Park, and a bit like... a Palm Pilot with a sliding cover? Bagel slicer? Futuristic bidet? FoS readers, I leave it to you to finish the joke.

COMMENTS

I thought the renderings were bad until out of morbid curiosity I clicked the "Economics" link and saw this: http://www.marlinsnewballpark.com/economic_facts.php

Joe the Bagel Slicer.

Posted by Thomas on January 27, 2009 07:24 PM

So if the Marlins can have a retractable-roof park built for $455 million today, how come the Mariners couldn't do it 10 years ago?

Posted by MarkH on January 28, 2009 08:51 AM

Look at the ~8-foot wide column stuck in the lower section of the left field stands.

That's a pretty strong indication that this is a seriously flawed design.

Posted by Douglas on January 28, 2009 10:15 AM

If you look at the computer rendering, the seats behind the pillars that are there in the sketch have been removed. Probably just an indication of sloppy draftsmanship - my guess is they rushed this thing out to coincide with the vote announcement.

Posted by Neil on January 28, 2009 11:11 AM

The lines on the roof from the computer rendering reminds me of SkyDome's roof (now called rogers centre).

Posted by Daniel Francis on February 1, 2009 01:36 AM

Latest News Items

CONTACT US FOR AD RATES