Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
February 02, 2009
Big Dreams

The Marlins' president believes a new stadium will bring in the fans:

With final voting on the Florida Marlins' long-sought ballpark less than two weeks away, club president David Samson says he expects near-capacity crowds nightly the first year in the team's new home, with annual attendance above 2 million for at least seven seasons.

Such an increase for the attendance-challenged Marlins would allow them to climb into the middle of the major league pack in player payroll, Samson said Monday.

"As soon as our revenues goes up, our payroll will go up," Samson said at a luncheon to promote the upcoming season. "In the new ballpark, our payroll will always match our revenues, but our revenues will be higher."

I'll believe it when I see it. If the Marlins put out an inferior product their first year in the new stadium, I doubt the crowds will grow much. Florida should invest in their team before going into the new stadium to drive attendance, not wait for the attendance to materialize.


Posted by David Pinto at 07:16 PM | Stadiums | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Going from memory of the opening of Miller Park,
rather than from actual figures, the Brewers
got a nice boost in attendance in the first year.
This despite many straight losing years and the
lack of a boost to payroll. It was the second year
when attendance, while still higher, started not
to meet expectations. It also was somewhere
between the second and third year when local
fan anger with the Seligs seemed to intensify.

Promises were made about fielding a more competetive team with a new stadium. When it opened, there were excuses about the growing
disparities in market making more free agent
signings not possible. In Milwaukee, the promises
of a new stadium kept fans hopeful for awhile.
But, it seemed like that might have set the table for
a greater backlash, when the promises were not
fulfilled. The new stadium also meant that
ownership lost it's best excuse for failure.

Not knowing the local community in Florida, I still
wonder if the same pattern will show there, a
solid attendence boost for the first year that will
not have the legs, unless the team builds on it's
young talent this time around.

cbuster

Posted by: cbuster at February 2, 2009 08:06 PM

Ask the Nationals how that new park brought out the fans. Oh wait, it didn't.

Posted by: WillClark4HOF at February 3, 2009 10:55 AM
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