The Marlins are "projecting an opening-day payroll" of $70M, which once again will be the "lowest or among the two or three lowest" in MLB, according to a front-page piece by Barry Jackson of the MIAMI HERALD. Four-year-old Marlins Park was supposed to be a "revenue-generating palace that would finally permit a usually penny-pinching franchise to sustain a competitive middle-of-the-pack payroll." But the ballpark "hasn’t come close to solving" the team's revenue deficiencies, "partly because of low attendance and partly because ... the team’s TV contract with Fox Sports, which pays less -- in most cases, much less -- than every other local cable contract in baseball." Sources said that the Marlins make only $20M or so from their deal with FS Florida that runs through '20, the "lowest of any cable contract in baseball." The Marlins "have been attempting to convince Fox to increase their rights fee as part of a multiyear extension, but conversations haven’t led to a deal." Marlins President David Samson said, “Right now, we are last in the league in revenue, and that’s not where Miami should be. I don’t expect that to continue.” Jackson notes in their first four seasons at the new ballpark, the Marlins’ season-ending payroll "ranked 18th, 29th, 30th and 30th" among the 30 MLB teams. Would "boosting their annual TV revenue" from $18M to $60M "allow the Marlins to have a payroll of well above" $100M? Samson "won’t commit to a number, because gate revenue (which is well below what the Marlins expected) and sponsorships also play a role" (MIAMI HERALD, 4/1).
