Marlins fans are quickly learning "the reality of a 37,000-seat venue with fewer than 6,000 on-site parking spots,” according to Beasley & Rabin of the MIAMI HERALD. The result at the club's new downtown Miami venue has been “an hour-long scavenger hunt to find remote lots, and the hassle of snagging a seat on one of the city’s brand-new trolleys.” Marlins fans spent Thursday “kvetching about the situation on local talk radio and Twitter,” and a “major gripe is that the four on-property garages are set aside for advanced-paying VIPs, team employees and news media.” Anyone else is “on their own.” Miami Parking Authority CEO Art Noriega admitted that there were “some kinks, and said it will likely take the first few series of the year to work them out.” He said that the main problem Wednesday during the team’s first exhibition game against the Univ. of Miami was that the public “wasn’t aware of the new parking restrictions.” The parking authority “plans to spend the first few weeks of the season monitoring how many of the restricted parking spots go unused.” If it is a “substantial number, the city will open them up to single-day-ticket customers” (MIAMI HERALD, 3/9). MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro asked, “Now that they've built it, will people, especially those in Broward and Palm Beach counties come?” Marlins Special Assistant to the President Jeff Conine said, "I think they are going to be skeptical at first, but when they come here, I think they're going to want to come back. I really do. It's going to be a great experience.” He added, “They may not go to as many games as they did at Sun Life. But once they see a game, they will venture down more than they thought they would" (MLB.com, 3/7).
HERE TO STAY: ESPN.com’s Greg Hardy wrote the stadium's outfield home run sculpture, designed by artist Red Grooms, is “being met with two types of reactions: raised eyebrows -- and people wanting to gouge out their eyeballs.” At an estimated price of $2M, the “mechanical ‘sculpto-pictorama’ isn't going anywhere -- unless left-handed batters complain so much about it being a distraction that it's forced to be moved” (ESPN.com, 3/8).
