Derek Jeter’s Marlins partners and Cardinals owners want money.
Did you hear that the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals baseball teams owners are unhappy with the shared spring training facility in Jupiter, Florida? But the two team owners have an idea. Let’s spend as much as $100 million to fix up the spring training facility and see how much money Palm Beach County along with Florida taxpayers will contribute to keep the ownership groups happy. The two teams apparently want Florida tourism taxes directed to the stadium improvements. Perhaps St. Louis Cardinals fans travel to Jupiter to see preseason baseball games. It doesn’t seem that Miami Marlins fans are driving in droves up I-95 to see the team in the preseason. One other thing about Marlins ownership. The previous owner Jeffrey Loria ended up getting a new stadium on the backs of Miami taxpayers. It is one of the most publicly subsidized stadiums in the United States.
The two teams, the Marlins and Cardinals, claim they need expanded clubhouses, agility fields, more batting tunnels for baseball purposes and to make the customer experience more rewarding,  an expansion of team stores on the premises, Wi-Fi although if you have a smart phone WiFi isn’t really needed, a new scoreboard and more shade for the customers in the stands. Palm Beach County is already paying millions for a relatively new baseball complex built for the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals. The constant asking for taxpayers’ dollars in Florida for spring training has yielded impressive results for various Major League Baseball teams and has cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars although Florida lawmakers keep raising tourism taxes to help fund sports in the state. In the last seven years, Florida has seen upgrades to nine spring training complexes. Arizona is going through the same process. Spring Training is part of a baseball team’s portfolio and owners are looking to make money using other people’s money. It’s baseball 2018.
Palm Beach County is paying for a Houston Astros-Washington spring training facilyt.
