Heres the info about it from the Miami Herald website. Marlins get approval to leave South Florida and seek relocation The Marlins' negotiations with the city of Miami on a new stadium officially fell through, and the team got permission to look elsewhere. But county officials will try to broker a deal. BY BARRY JACKSON AND LESLEY CLARK Frustrated by their inability to strike a deal for a new retractable-roof stadium, the Florida Marlins announced Tuesday they have received permission from Major League Baseball to talk to other cities about relocating -- as soon as the 2008 season. Even before Tuesday's news conference was finished, a city official in Portland, Ore., had called the Marlins to express interest, a baseball source said. Marlins president David Samson said owner Jeffrey Loria prefers to stay in South Florida and will continue efforts to secure a new stadium here, but Samson conceded, ``After all these years, I think everything is a long shot.'' The announcement brought a definitive close to faltering negotiations between the Marlins and the city of Miami about building a stadium next to the Orange Bowl in Little Havana. But the Marlins didn't rule out continuing negotiations with Miami-Dade County officials, and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez held out hope that the team and the county could still work out a deal. ''I am -- and will continue to be -- supportive of the team's efforts to build a stadium in South Florida,'' Alvarez said, adding that the county will ''explore any and all options'' to keep the Marlins in the county. If a stadium deal is struck locally, Samson said it likely would be on land next to Dolphins Stadium, where the Marlins now play. Discussions are ongoing, but the team is at least $80 million short. Samson added that the team has never been contacted by officials from Broward and Palm Beach counties. ``We went through Broward and Palm Beach years ago, and the county of Miami-[Dade] is the only group still standing.'' Though Samson would not discuss possible relocation options, the Marlins plan to talk with officials in Las Vegas, Portland, Ore., and Charlotte, N.C., according to two officials with knowledge of the situation. Samson said the Marlins will stay at Dolphins Stadium at least two more seasons, but no longer than five. The team has a lease for the 2006 season and will exercise its option for the 2007 season by a Dec. 31 deadline. Samson said Loria has received offers but will never sell the team. CONTINUING SAGA The announcement that the Marlins would look elsewhere marks just the latest chapter in the team's nine-year struggle to find cash to build a retractable-roof stadium, which the team and the league insist is a necessity in rainy South Florida. Talks between the city, the county and the team had been ongoing since the team failed to secure a sales-tax subsidy from the state Legislature last spring, but little progress was made as project costs rose. Loria, traveling in Europe, suggested in a statement that ``Miami -- the gateway to the Americas -- could well be the first American city in 35 years to see its baseball franchise leave.'' But Samson rejected suggestions that the announcement was aimed at exerting pressure on politicians -- something the team has been criticized for in the past. ''We don't threaten,'' Samson said. ``When you already put such a high contribution on the table and you still can't get a deal, it makes you wonder if people wanted a deal to start with. ``Now we're not going to wonder about that anymore. Because we're going to start working with places where they want to do deals.'' In South Florida and Tallahassee, few politicians were willing to bid the Marlins goodbye. But they appeared unmoved by the threat of a departure, suggesting it's the team -- not the government -- that needs to pony up the cash. Gov. Jeb Bush said he would prefer the Marlins stay in South Florida, but said the announcement that the team might look to relocate is unlikely to create any added pressure for the state to provide more cash. ''I don't think it does, to be honest with you,'' Bush told reporters. ``Having said that, I hope the Marlins stay in South Florida, and I'm more than happy to work with the ownership of the team and the Florida Legislature and the region to come up with a solution to see if we can make it happen.'' Samson said the Marlins offered $212 million in rent and up-front payments to finance a $385 million retractable-roof stadium at the Orange Bowl site, but the parties could never bridge a funding gap that had grown to $70 million. It's unclear if any of the cities would give Loria the type of stadium deal he's seeking. But Samson said he expects one of the markets will. ''We will actively look and we will now return phone calls that we have never returned,'' Samson said, adding that the Marlins will be open about discussions with other cities. ``[Loria's] hope is to stay in South Florida. As far as his preferences after that, everyone else is tied for second.'' Asked if the team would give South Florida politicians a chance to match an agreement with another city, Samson said, ``We are not going to parade around like a bunch of media monkeys . . . and bring in an [offer] from other cities and say match A through Z and we'll stay in Florida. . . . That's not how we do business.'' STADIUM ALTERNATIVES The team has been unwilling to remain long-term at Dolphins Stadium because it doesn't get to keep revenue from the pricier suites and must share other stadium revenue with stadium owner Wayne Huizenga. Huizenga, who owns Dolphins Stadium and land around the stadium, has declined to discuss his willingness to build a baseball stadium on the site. Samson confirmed The Herald's report last month that discussions between the Marlins and top Huizenga Holdings officials are continuing. ''That [site] probably makes the most sense,'' Samson said. Negotiations with the city of Miami began to take a negative turn after the Florida Legislature in May rejected the city and county's bid for a $60 million state-sales-tax rebate to be used toward the stadium. That allocation would have allowed the parties to borrow $30 million toward construction costs, but would not have sealed a deal, Samson said Tuesday. ''It would have a sports complex that would have rivaled any major-league city,'' he said. ``And the city of Miami and the elected and appointed officials decided they didn't like ownership, they didn't think we had money. They just wanted to go a different direction.'' Samson said his final conversation with Miami city manager Joe Arriola last month ``was short, less than sweet and it ended with nary a goodbye.'' Arriola was on vacation, and city officials didn't return phone calls. Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who spent days in Tallahassee last spring cajoling lawmakers, told TV cameras he worked hard for the stadium. He didn't comment on the team's decision. Samson also confirmed that a city of Miami official -- whom he declined to identify -- has encouraged Loria to sell the team to someone of Hispanic descent. ''They're politicians -- they have no say in the private sector whatsoever,'' Samson said. The Marlins have rejected several stadium pitches that were deemed unrealistic. Among them: an offer by boxing promoter Don King to build a facility in Palm Beach, a proposal to share a stadium with the University of Miami football team, and an inquiry from the Seminole Indian Tribe. Samson also dismissed a Broward County politician's suggestion that the Marlins and state combine to build a stadium that could be used as a hurricane shelter. ''It's not realistic,'' he said. And he suggested that baseball owners are likely to approve a Marlins relocation if it comes to that. (Relocation requires approval of three-quarters of the owners.) ''Baseball owners don't take kindly to spending $30 million in revenue sharing for a team that wins the World Series,'' he said. MLB LIKES S. FLORIDA Robert DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer, declined to speculate on whether the Marlins would stay in South Florida, but he said, ``The goal remains to have baseball succeed in South Florida.'' ``[Commissioner Bud Selig] believes South Florida should have baseball, but enough time has passed . . . The commissioner has decided we are going to get a stadium or look at alternatives.'' DuPuy, who called Las Vegas a ''very attractive candidate,'' met with Huizenga two weeks ago to talk about the proposal to build a baseball stadium next to the Dolphins facility. He would not elaborate on the talks.
