You Can Pay for a Ballpark Without Fleecing Taxpayers

In anticipation of Tuesday night’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game, I began researching a column about Marlins Park in Miami, where the game is being played.

Completed in 2012, the ballpark cost $639 million. Of that amount, Miami-Dade County paid $370 million,1499739106174 with the city of Miami chipping in another $130 million. It almost goes without saying that they ponied up because Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, employing the tried-and-true tactic of wealthy professional-sports owners demanding new stadiums, was threatening to move the team elsewhere. Now, after six straight losing seasons, Loria wants to sell the team. He’s asking more than $1 billion—a price made possible only because of his state-of-the-art, retractable-roof, taxpayer-funded stadium. Ugh.