Prospective Marlins Owner John Henry has talked with
former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell about
"becoming a minority owner and leading the team's efforts to
secure public financing for a new stadium," according to
sources of Barry Jackson of the MIAMI HERALD. Mitchell has
a home in Key Biscayne, FL, and is an "avid [baseball] fan."
Henry: "George hasn't made a commitment, but he's interested
and I'm interested." The "potential role" of Mitchell would
be trying to "secure" funding for a new retractable-roof
ballpark which Henry "believes" will cost between $300M and
$400M. Henry has said he "won't add any partners until
after his purchase of the team is completed." Mitchell was
at an awards ceremony at the White House this weekend and
was unavailable for comment (MIAMI HERALD, 9/12).
PRICE CUTS: Henry added that he has no plans to "raise
ticket prices" and that he's "asked the staff to propose a
ticket price reduction." Marlins VP/Sales & Marketing Jim
Ross said the team's average single game ticket price of
$14.89 and average season-ticket price of $12.45 are among
the 10 cheapest in MLB (Barry Jackson, MIAMI HERALD, 9/12).
NO NEED FOR FIRESALE: In light of Henry's near deal for
the team, Dave Sheinin wrote that the "purge" of the team's
payroll "didn't have to happen." Sheinin: "If the mass
destruction of the defending World Series champion Marlins,
the infamous fire sale of 1998, was done to make the
franchise more palatable for Don Smiley's potential
investors, and now Smiley is out of the picture, then the
truth is, none of it was necessary" (MIAMI HERALD, 9/13).