Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Old Time Baseball

After our morning of volunteering I couldn't have been more excited to return to my room and find a riveting replay of the 1991 World Series between the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves. Playing in the old HHH Metrodome, it was hard not to notice the cheap artificial turf, empty seats, and other low-tech elements of the stadium. I know this was 20 years ago, but the Twins just replaced this stadium last year with a state-of-the-art $545 million stadium. In the last decade more and more new stadiums have been built, including Detroit's Comerica Park and, most recently, the new home of the Miami Marlins, Miami Ballpark.

It's amazing to consider that these stadiums, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, have been built, without question, in the wake of the housing and debt crises. With private homeowners struggling with foreclosures and/or living month-to-month trying to pay off debt, it is hard to understand how a stadium like Miami Ballpark can receive $360 million in funding from the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County. How do you feel about public spending being allocated in this way given the current economic situation?

Miami Ballpark Wikipedia Page

1 comment:

  1. Hopefully the stadium helps generate revenue for the struggling area. Attendance at the old stadium (which was also used for Miami Dolphins football) was low, and is believed to be caused by the harsh south Florida heat, along with the bad seating layout and overall poor stadium quality. The new ballpark seems to be adequately sized (third smallest capacity in Major League Baseball), and the retractable roof (and temperature control system) will be beneficial against frequent rain and will provide a comfortable atmosphere for spectators. The Florida Marlins' new home should help attract the large baseball following of south Florida. Also, if it succeeds in its attempts to host the World Baseball Classic and MLB All-Star Game, then all the exposure and visitors could be extremely advantageous for Miami-Dade County.

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