Published by: Daily Business Review
Written by: Robert Starkey
Posted: August 25, 2008

I have been involved with numerous ballpark projects across the country as a result of my consulting relationship with Major League Baseball and several of its clubs. In reading a recent Urban Forum column, I believe several important facts were ignored and welcome the opportunity to provide accurate information about the new ballpark planned for the site of the historic Orange Bowl football facility.

The team’s agreement with Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami calls for a first-class ballpark that is fully climatized with a retractable roof, air conditioning, real grass playing field, 37,000 seats and amenities similar to the MLB ballparks in San Diego, St. Louis, Houston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee.

In contrast to open-air Dolphins Stadium, the new ballpark’s design and amenities will improve attendance by providing certainty of comfortable conditions, rain or shine. This assures games will start on time and will be uninterrupted, allowing fans to come from a greater distance with the certainty of seeing a game. The other four clubs with retractable roofed ballparks (Phoenix, Houston, Seattle and Milwaukee) have clearly enjoyed the benefits of providing protection for their fans from uncertain weather conditions.

The scale and design of the new ballpark will correct the deficiencies inherent in playing baseball in a football stadium, including poor sightlines, excessive seating, daunting spaces and other shortcomings that fans now suffer in the cavernous 75,000-seat Dolphins Stadium. In short, for Marlin fans, the new ballpark will be the antithesis of Dolphins Stadium.

Orange Bowl site qualities

With regard to the proposed Orange Bowl site, a few pertinent facts and characteristics are noteworthy:

- Familiarity. Since 1937 the site has been accepted and recognized as a place for major sporting events in South Florida. The new ballpark provides the opportunity to preserve that legacy and carry it forward to future generations.

- Infrastructure. Fans are also familiar with the existing infrastructure, including access ramps to and from Interstate highways. Modification and upgrades to existing infrastructure should be less extensive than preparing a new site never before used for major sporting events.

- Site Development Opportunities. The 37,000-seat ballpark uses less than half of the existing 42 acres. Under the agreement, the balance will be used by local government for a multi-use city parking facility of at least 6,000 spaces, for retail, and for other uses to be determined, possibly including a hotel.

- Surrounding Development Potential. In Little Havana between Miami International Airport and the Performing Arts Center and planned museum complex, with the Medical Center to the north and Downtown and the Government Center to the east, the location has attributes of other ballparks that have successfully spawned development in nearby and often underutilized spaces.

- Location Dynamics. The site is within one mile of active labor forces, including several thousand jobs in medical services, local government and higher education, with additional facilities planned for the near future.

Ballpark agreement terms

The contributions and protections provided to the public by the team are both significant and progressive relative to other middle market ballpark transactions.

- Team Financial Commitment. The team’s contribution of 30 percent of the capital budget is higher than the industry average of 20 to 25 percent private participation cited in recent discussion. Additionally, over the lease term, the team is committed to pay approximately $100 million for the city’s parking structure through pre-purchase of spaces. Finally, the team will assume 100 percent of the ballpark overrun construction risk and contribute to a capital improvement fund.

- Other Team Commitments. In addition to the above financial commitments, the team has agreed to a 35-year ironclad lease and nonrelocation agreement, use of the facility for up to 16 nonprofit community events, an affordable ticket program, donations worth more than $1 million every year as well as a name change to the Miami Marlins.

- MLB Commitments. In connection with the agreement, Major League Baseball has agreed to provide unprecedented resources including a $1 million matching LEED grant, a $3 million contribution to build a Baseball Academy in Hialeah, selection of Miami as a venue for the 2009 World Baseball Classic, and the potential for a future All-Star Game.

Additionally, construction of the new ballpark will create approximately 1,500 full-time equivalent jobs over the three-year construction period, and will allow many local firms to be part of the construction process.

These are the facts that readers should know about the new Marlins Ballpark site and agreement.

The new ballpark will provide a place where this most diverse of communities comes together to pursue the Great American Pastime.

Robert Starkey, president of Starkey Sports Consulting, based in Minneapolis, has been an economic and financial consultant to MLB for 15 years. He served as an adviser to the Commissioner’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Baseball Economics and has been involved in ballpark initiatives throughout the league. Before forming his own company in 1999, Starkey led the Sports Consulting Practice Group for Arthur Andersen.

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