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Florida Marlins moving location....

EastSideResider

By EastSideResider
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EastSideResider Whistle-Stop

EastSideResider

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The Florida Marlins are moving their franchise out of Miami and have the green light by the MLB. It is between 3 cities: Charlotte, Las Vegas, and Portland... All cities are close to the same size, so which city do you think will get it? and why?

Of course I WANT Charlotte to get an MLB team! Charlotte is a very active city at night and people here LOVE baseball! Charlotte would be a great place.... However, I think Las Vegas will get it because it is a party city and attracts more tourists than the other two cities....

BUT, Vegas does remind me of S. Florida cities...

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TheseGoTo11 Unincorporated Area

TheseGoTo11

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I will say that Miami will get them. Its a threat to get the taxpayers to pony up more money in S. Fla.

I agree that a move is less than 50/50, but Las Vegas is in the lead if there's a relo because of the pop. growth. Portland's 2nd, because its media mkt is bigger than a bunch of existing MLB mkts, such as KC, Balt, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee, and the only bigger mkts without MLB, Sac'to and Orlando, are within 120 miles of existing teams. CLT wouldn't even build a minor league stadium, so its AAA team is playing just across the line in Fort Mill, SC. Nonethless, its ranks just 3 spots below PDX, and is growing faster than the mkts in between - san diego, Balt, and Indy.

MLB likes to build pressure by getting as many cities involved as possible, so if this does get serious, expect some empty threat mkts like San Antonio, Salt Lake City, or Monterrey, Mex to get tossed in as well.

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Clobber Burg

Clobber

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It looks like Portland will probably get them, but will they still have the same name "Marlins"? Would that name make sense up there.

I LOVE that rendering. Portland looks beautiful.

So it's already settled then? I didn't realize that it was only between three cities, much less that Portland was in the lead . . .

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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I will say that Miami will get them. Its a threat to get the taxpayers to pony up more money in S. Fla.

I don't know, the money's not showing up. Miami-Dade is ponying up some of their tourism tax dollars but the Florida leg refused to give the stadium the huge tax break all other Florida professional franchises got because Huizenga supposedly used the money to retrofit Joe Robbie/Pro Player Stadium for baseball already, they refuse to "double dip" for the same team in two stadia. Personally, I think that moving the stadium further north towards Broward would've been a better option as the distance from Broward and Palm Beach Cos (and most of the paying fans) are is too great to the Orange Bowl.

I do agree this may be a last ditch threat but I think it is serious. Luria's been screwing with the leg for two years and has been rebuked each time, even with Gov Bush's support. I think he's shopping now. If he leaves it should be no hard feelings, he's given staying in Florida more than the old college try.

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My vote would easily be for Vegas if the gambling issues were put aside. It's without a doubt the market with the most upside and it has no competition in the sports arena. Frankly, I still think the gambling issues are making MLB reluctant but at the rate Vegas is growing every major sport is going to cave and put a franchise there in the next 10-15 years. Portland and Charlotte are great cities, though. That has to be a great situation for an owner to choose between these markets.

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Charleston native Burg

Charleston native

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I don't know, the money's not showing up. Miami-Dade is ponying up some of their tourism tax dollars but the Florida leg refused to give the stadium the huge tax break all other Florida professional franchises got because Huizenga supposedly used the money to retrofit Joe Robbie/Pro Player Stadium for baseball already, they refuse to "double dip" for the same team in two stadia. Personally, I think that moving the stadium further north towards Broward would've been a better option as the distance from Broward and Palm Beach Cos (and most of the paying fans) are is too great to the Orange Bowl.

I do agree this may be a last ditch threat but I think it is serious. Luria's been screwing with the leg for two years and has been rebuked each time, even with Gov Bush's support. I think he's shopping now. If he leaves it should be no hard feelings, he's given staying in Florida more than the old college try...

I said this in the Florida thread: I hope they just move north to Broward and locate in Ft. Lauderdale. I would hate to see the Marlins move. However, if they did move, I think they might go to Charlotte. It would really stimulate the rivalry between Atlanta and Charlotte since the Marlins would remain in the NL East, and there is already a big rivalry with the NFL teams of the 2 cities. The Carolina Marlins? That sounds pretty good, even though CLT is landlocked. But I think both SC and NC people would embrace them...they would still be my #1 MLB team.

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bobliocatt City

bobliocatt

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The team would probably go under in a smaller metro like Charlotte or Portland, or even Vegas for that matter, despite their growth. Its a tough situation their in, because none of those markets are better then South Florida. Maybe MLB should give the money needed to bridge the gap, because I don't see any of these markets being better than South Florida in the near or long term future.

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imaterry78247 Whistle-Stop

imaterry78247

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The Florida Marlins are moving their franchise out of Miami and have the green light by the MLB. It is between 3 cities: Charlotte, Las Vegas, and Portland... All cities are close to the same size, so which city do you think will get it? and why?

Of course I WANT Charlotte to get an MLB team! Charlotte is a very active city at night and people here LOVE baseball! Charlotte would be a great place.... However, I think Las Vegas will get it because it is a party city and attracts more tourists than the other two cities....

BUT, Vegas does remind me of S. Florida cities...

The San Antonio/Austin metro area is leading becasue it is the fastest growing and has the best scenery of each contender. Marlin officlas were int he metro area touring sites yesterday

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bobliocatt City

bobliocatt

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Metro San Antonio's population isn't even 2 million and Austin is considered a part of the Astro'e extended market. South Florida is 5 times larger and many times more compact. I've come to the conclusion that SF isn't failing MLB, MLB is failing South Florida. I think they'll have a rude awakening if they decide to move to an unproven second tier market like San Antonio, Portland, Charlotte or Vegas, just because one of those city's offers to build them a brand spanking new private stadium at taxpayer expense.

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zed Whistle-Stop

zed

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Metro San Antonio's population isn't even 2 million and Austin is considered a part of the Astro'e extended market. South Florida is 5 times larger and many times more compact. I've come to the conclusion that SF isn't failing MLB, MLB is failing South Florida. I think they'll have a rude awakening if they decide to move to an unproven second tier market like San Antonio, Portland, Charlotte or Vegas, just because one of those city's offers to build them a brand spanking new private stadium at taxpayer expense.

You've got that right. Jeff Loria appears to be MLB's hitman - he bought the Expos and destroyed any chance of that franchise ever rebounding by betting everything on a publically funded stadium that never happened. Now the Expos no longer exist and MLB is trying to tie a stadium deal around the necks of DC taxpayers. It seems the exact same course of events is slowly unfolding in South Florida. My take is that MLB has made a decision that unless the taxpayers provide a massive stadium subsidy to a team like the Marlins, they'd rather move the team to someplace that will. This isn't the fault of the citizens and fans of South Florida - it's another example of MLB's extortion racket and shameful operating model. If I lived in South Florida (or anywhere else), I wouldn't want one cent of my money going to a guy like Loria. Certainly I don't blame the fans for staying home amidst this ongoing fiasco.

Of all the MLB stadiums built in the past 40 years (almost all of them), one (SBC Park in San Francisco) has been privately financed. Who else could run a business where taxpayers supply billions of dollars in facilities so that it can work? Easy question - the NFL! But with that background, it's interesting that the taxpayers of New York vetoed publically funded stadiums for the Yankees and Mets. I guess New York is too big of a cash cow - the latest thing is that Steinbrenner will pay for a new stadium himself rather than move the team. If that actually happens, I might actually gain a little respect for the guy.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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The team would probably go under in a smaller metro like Charlotte or Portland, or even Vegas for that matter, despite their growth. Its a tough situation their in, because none of those markets are better then South Florida. Maybe MLB should give the money needed to bridge the gap, because I don't see any of these markets being better than South Florida in the near or long term future.

I think it would do well in any of those markets, especially Vegas or Portland which have less competition. However, I think the optimal situation would be a move north towards Ft Lauderdale and a big downtown stadium there.

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bobliocatt City

bobliocatt

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^unfortunately, there's no proof of a successful MLB market the size of a Las Vegas or Portland. However, there are several ones that are struggling in larger markets. All in all, its a big risk to leave a metro of 5 million or one 3 or 4 times smaller, because you don't want to contribute your fair share to build your own stadium.

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