Marlins Ballpark: New stadium poised to elevate franchise

For years, the Florida Marlins have struggled with attendance despite consistently fielding a quality product. That’s about to end next season with the opening of the Marlins’ new, 37,000-seat, retractable roof stadium located on the historic Orange Bowl site in Little Havana.

The Marlins’ attendance is near the bottom of the league every year regardless of if the team is successful or not. In 2003, for example, when the Marlins won their second World Series, they averaged 16,290 per regular season game, which ranked 28th in MLB.

Some people have blamed the lack of attendance on the simple lack of fans – after all, the organization is relatively new and many people who live in Florida are from other cities with their own allegiances. As a result, some have even questioned the decision to build a brand new stadium.

However, this is not the issue. Will the Marlins ever consistently lead MLB in attendance? No, but Miami is a relatively large market and the problem with the attendance is simply the climate of Miami, coupled with the awful stadium they currently play in. It is a football stadium by design, and is unsuitable for baseball despite the organization’s best efforts.

People try and search for a bigger reason than the weather or the stadium, but there isn’t one. It has nothing to do with the fans, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the product on the field.

The average temperature for home games since the team’s inception at Sun Life Stadium has been 85 degrees, excluding the humidity and variable weather of Miami. It is simply not comfortable to sit in the sun and humidity of Miami for three or more hours to watch a baseball game during the summer.

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A baseball game should be fun, not a chore, and it’s a chore to experience a 110 degree heat index or a rain delay caused by a severe Miami thunderstorm, sometimes both in the same game.

Yes, fans at all stadiums suffer through some tough weather on occasion, but not as consistently in Miami where it is more or less a given.

To make matters worse, once Marlins fans arrive at Sun Life Stadium for a game, they have to view it in the confines of one of the least attractive stadiums in baseball. With improvements to television quality and the market penetration of larger HD sets both at home and at bars, there’s even less of a reason for a fan to attend a Marlins game in their current stadium.

After a few years of construction, the Marlins will finally debut their new ballpark on Opening Day 2012, marking the start of a new era of Marlins baseball. More importantly, it assures the Marlins’ fan base that the team will remain in Miami for decades to come.

One of the greatest aspects of the design is that each and every seat will be a quality one. While this is something that most stadiums usually try and claim, it is completely true in this case.

With the new, 8,000-ton retractable roof in place, fans are guaranteed a cool, climate-controlled space in which to enjoy their Marlins moving forward. An unobstructed view of the Miami skyline is visible through the large operable glass panels behind the left field seating area.

The Marlins organization is indeed touting the “intimate” nature of the ballpark. This was achieved especially through the organization of the upper deck seating. Instead of one large deck, the upper deck has been split into the second and third decks. As a result, the front rows of third deck directly overhang those of the second, essentially doubling the number of quality seats in the upper deck.

This has also been accomplished by reducing foul territory to an absolute minimum, bringing the lower deck seats (and subsequently the upper seats) closer to the field. This has become standard practice with many new stadiums, allowing fans to view the game as close to the action as possible and allowing ownership to capitalize financially. All concourses are even open to the field, allowing fans walking around the ballpark to retain their view of the field.

A large video screen sits above right field, and a private seating area behind the left field fences also houses a swimming pool to watch the game from. Renderings have even shown the placement of two aquariums behind the backstop. Out of place, maybe, but definitely unique. Only time will tell if these aquariums make it to the final version of the stadium.

Estimates of the final cost of the stadium itself project to be under $400 million, though the overall project including landscaping, garages, and other fixtures ensure an overall cost of over $515 million.

Populous, the firm behind the stadium’s design, has also designed the stadium to be the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified stadium with a retractable roof in the entire country, a label hundreds of stadiums apply for.

In order to become LEED certified, the stadium needs to fulfill enough environmentally-friendly design tasks off a checklist of hundreds of items. After completion, LEED will certify any building as either platinum, gold, silver, or standard LEED-certified if it meets enough requirements, respectively. Populous hopes for silver certification.

In addition to 90% of the waste material being recycled, one green feature of the stadium is that recycled concrete pieces from the demolished Orange Bowl have been used as dirt and fill after they were ground into small rocks. All of the stadium’s concrete (and most building items) were also manufactured locally, reducing the footprint from transport.

Other green initiatives include a heat-reflecting roof, large glass panels for increased natural lighting (reducing electricity costs), spots for 2,000 bikes, and even priority seating for hybrid vehicles. This is just a small list of dozens of environmentally-friendly choices that place the new Marlins stadium at the forefront of green stadium design.

The Marlins are serious about their new stadium, and are providing enormous publicity for it. Construction is on pace to finish ahead of schedule, and the Marlins already have given tours to various people and media. The architect’s renderings are also continually updated on the website and a must see.

Outside of the stadium, a large pavilion on the western side will serve as a home for outdoor music and entertainment events, with a large video screen sitting in view of this pavilion on the exterior of the stadium itself.

Since the site is just two miles from downtown Miami, views of the skyline will be spectacular, and access to the stadium will be as easy as can be either by car, public transportation or bike. This in itself will increase attendance, in addition to the retractable roof, fantastic design and overall experience the new stadium will provide.

Without a doubt, this new stadium will serve as much more than just a baseball stadium – it will become the major factor in the cultural and economic revival of its neighborhood and the city as a whole; baseball will become bigger than ever in Miami. It will lead to a larger and more consistent attendance, leading to more money for the team to spend.

No more World Series victories followed by fire sales. Marlins fans, your team’s best years are ahead.

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-Jun. 29 – Kauffman Stadium: The Forgotten Midwestern Gem
-Jul. 6 – Busch Stadium: A fitting design for St. Louis

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