Marlins Owner John Henry invited 20 season-ticket
holders and the media, via closed-circuit TV, for a
"partnership meeting" and revealed that the team lost $5.3M
in the first six months of the current FY ending April 30,
according to Armando Salguero of the MIAMI HERALD. The
Marlins "expect" to generate $58.3M in revenue this year,
while spending $63.6M. But the team's payroll is $18M, down
from the $24.8M that was budgeted, but Salguero wrote that
the $6M "windfall is being erased from the bottom line by
lower-than-expected revenues caused primarily by poor ticket
sales." While the team is budgeted to lose $5.3M total this
year, down from the $6-8M former Owner Wayne Huizenga lost
last year, Henry put a "promise on an overhead projection"
during the meeting that read, "[He] will not move this
franchise ever!" (MIAMI HERALD, 5/23). In Ft. Lauderdale,
David O'Brien wrote that the season-ticket holders "also had
an unusually candid" Q&A session with Marlins GM Dave
Dombrowski (SUN-SENTINEL, 5/23). In Miami, Greg Cote calls
Henry the "Anti-Wayne," who is "continuing to show a
masterful sense of PR" (MIAMI HERALD, 5/24).
OH HENRY, YOU'RE TOO GOOD TO THEM: In Miami, Bob Rubin
reports that "all members of the Marlins' front office --
from mailroom employees to the top executives -- have been
invited" by Henry on a field trip to Chicago. They will
depart on a chartered jet on Tuesday morning, "share lunch
with the team Tuesday afternoon" and have the opportunity to
attend the games against the Cubs on Tuesday night and
Wednesday afternoon before flying back Wednesday night.
Marlins Dir of Communications Mark Geddis, on the trip:
"It's unique, one of the best things morale-wise I've ever
experienced in my time in sports" (MIAMI HERALD, 5/24).
