On June 10, 1991, CEO of Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation, Wayne Huizenga, gave the South Florida community something to cheer for. Huizenga paid $95 million in an expansion team to create South Florida’s first Major League Baseball team, the Florida Marlins. The Marlins began playing in the 1993 season at Joe Robbie Stadium — now called Sun Life Stadium.
It has been 19 years since the Marlins began play and it seems to have an even smaller fan base than when they were first created. The decrease in fans seems to stem from the current owner of the Marlins, Jeffrey Loria, an art dealer from New York. Almost every season since he has taken over has been accompanied by controversy, making him the least-liked professional team owner in South Florida. This does not seem to bother him, because as his popularity decreases, his bank account increases even faster.
Many of the controversies that surround the Marlins’ owner happened in 2011, when he changed the team’s logo, uniforms, colors and even its name — to the Miami Marlins. His acquiring of public funding to build a new stadium for his organization was also highly controversial.
Loria promised that if he were able to get taxpayers to pay for a new stadium, he would increase the team’s payroll and bring in big name players, whom fans would actually want to pay money to see. In the construction of Marlins Park, the Miami Marlins had to pay $155 million, while taxpayers had to contribute $2.6 billion — just to see the Marlins take 100 percent of the profit. Since when is it acceptable for the local people, some of whom don’t even watch baseball, to pay for something that a private institution wants to create? Someone please explain this logic to me.
The construction of the new stadium raised the Marlins’ net value 13 percent to $360 million in just one season. To create even more hype around the team and the new stadium, Loria signed All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes to the team. Reyes quickly became a popular fan favorite, along with outfielder Giancarlo Stanton and infielder Hanley Ramirez.
At first, it appeared that Loria would hold up his end of the deal and sign big name players. However, halfway through the season, Loria decided to ignore his promise and traded Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The trade did not sit very well with Marlins’ fans. More trades followed, and by the end of the season, Loria had cut the Marlins’ payroll from $112 million to $90 million, while watching his team finish last in the division. Loria also got rid of outfielder Omar Infante, pitcher Anibal Sanchez, and manager Ozzie Guillen.
The straw that seemed to break the camel’s back came a few weeks ago, when Loria decided he needed to completely overhaul the team, without giving a new manager the chance to win with some of the big name players, like Reyes. Loria sent Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, John Buck, and Emilio Bonifacio north of the border in a 12-player trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. Who did the Marlins get in return? They got seven young prospects. None of them have proved themselves in the MLB.
Apparently Loria did not want to keep increasing the payroll, like he had promised the fans and the MLB. The expected payroll going into the 2013 season is $36 million, 70 percent lower than a year ago.
His recent move has pushed some Marlins’ fans to the brink. There are season ticket holders who are thinking about boycotting the 2013 season, and I honestly don’t blame them. Until the owner is able to bring in and keep players who are worth watching, the Miami Marlins’ game attendance and fan support will continue to decrease.
While the Marlins may be playing next season, they definitely won’t be selling out the 37,000-seat government funded stadium anytime soon. But, hey, Loria is saving all kinds of money. If the Marlins finish last in the division for a third year in a row, Loria will be forced to either bring in the players that fans want or sell the team to someone who actually wants to give back to the most important people in a professional sports organization — the fans.
