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Failing bid for Marlins teaches Wolff a lesson

By Tom Orsborn
San Antonio Express-News Staff Writer
Web Posted: 04/28/2006 12:00 AM CDT

When it comes to courting professional sports franchises, County Judge Nelson Wolff says he's ready to explore new possibilities "” and try a new approach "” now that talks with Major League Baseball's Florida Marlins appear to have flamed out.

Wolff acknowledged Thursday that lines of communication with the Marlins have gone dead since his decision two weeks ago to give the club a May 15 deadline to commit to San Antonio.

"Every day that goes by, I think there is less and less chance of getting anything done," Wolff said.

Apparently put off by Wolff's deadline, the Marlins are considering at least one new proposal designed to keep the team in South Florida. According to the Miami Herald, officials in Hialeah, Fla., are putting together a plan to provide free land for a new stadium and impose a new business property tax to raise funds for construction.

The money from property taxes paid by businesses that locate in a proposed 1,100-acre industrial park would be split between Hialeah and Miami-Dade County, with shares from both entities going toward the stadium, a Miami-Dade official said.

For the proposal to go forward, it would need approval from the Miami-Dade County Commission and the Hialeah City Council.

"The concept is simple "” it's capturing incremental tax revenue," Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess said. "It looks like a viable way to get a stadium built and could raise significant money."

Miami-Dade already has pledged $110 million to $120 million from other sources toward a $400 million ballpark. The Marlins, meanwhile, have offered as much as $210 million.

Wolff presented the Marlins with a stadium-financing plan March 8 that called for Bexar County to contribute as much as $200 million toward a $310 million ballpark.

"Maybe that will work for them," Wolff said of the Hialeah plan. "I'm not going to get into a bidding war with Miami. I have made that clear. If (the Marlins) can work something out (in South Florida), they need to work it out."

While Wolff says he doesn't consider the Marlins matter dead, he confirmed he canceled a meeting with the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce next week during which local business leaders were to be updated on the relocation effort.

"I don't think there is any reason to meet until we know if this thing is going to go any further," Wolff said.

Signaling his dissatisfaction with the course of discussions with the Marlins and with the NFL's New Orleans Saints last fall, Wolff said he now favors a harder tack in future talks with teams considering relocation.

Echoing comments made two weeks ago by County Commissioner Lyle Larson, Wolff said in the future San Antonio should deal with teams and leagues simultaneously. That way, Larson has said, the city can avoid being used by owners seeking leverage for stadium deals in their own cities.

"If there is a next time, they need to come in a united way and not just in a 'we're-thinking-about-it' mode," Wolff said. "The league and the team considering relocation need to come hand-in-hand and say, 'We need to come to your (city). What will you do?'"

Wolff's comments came after a lunch meeting with Mayor Phil Hardberger.

"They talked about it, and they are on the same page," a spokesman for Hardberger said.

Wolff said he regrets the city hasn't received a "clear signal" from Major League Baseball or the NFL that San Antonio is a ripe relocation option. Still, he said he's optimistic the leagues will come to that conclusion.

"When this is over, assuming the Marlins don't come here, I think baseball has had a good look at San Antonio, and so has the NFL," Wolff said. "Next time "” and I think it is only a matter of time "” the team and the league need to come with a united banner."

Larson applauded the new approach.

"We have to take a different strategy and focus on talking to the leagues, the commissioners and their relocation committees," Larson said. "They are the ones that are going to make the decisions, not the teams."

Well, San Antonio's "hard-line" approach doesn't work with MLB, and Portland's "soft-line" approach (if that's what we can call it) hasn't worked (so far), either. I don't reckon there is any one "right" way or "wrong" way to go about trying to get a team, although I prefer our way, but any city that gets indignant about "being used as leverage" doesn't understand how these things work. You've got to have patience, you've got to have perseverance, and you've got to have a plan pretty much already in place so you will be ready when the league decides the time IS right.

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Originally posted by BC in Newberg:
Well, San Antonio's "hard-line" approach doesn't work with MLB, and Portland's "soft-line" approach (if that's what we can call it) hasn't worked (so far), either. I don't reckon there is any one "right" way or "wrong" way to go about trying to get a team, although I prefer our way, but any city that gets indignant about "being used as leverage" doesn't understand how these things work. You've got to have patience, you've got to have perseverance, and you've got to have a plan pretty much already in place so you will be ready when the league decides the time IS right.

the approach that works is the one that includes the phrase "and baseball wants a team there".

btw, San Antonio (at least, the media aspect of it, and a certain poster here) has gotten a big heaping helping of come-uppance here.

People were counting their chickens well before they were laid, let alone hatched. It seemed obvious to outsiders (especially those who have been on this ride before) that this wasn't going to work out.

Oh well. maybe we'll get another "team" using us as leverage, and we'll get excited again, only to not get another team.

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Oh well. maybe we'll get another "team" using us as leverage, and we'll get excited again, only to not get another team.

Well, given the nature of the beast, the best thing we can do is RECOGNIZE that we are being used as leverage, and therefore not get too high or too low about anything that happens UNTIL a team actually commits to moving here. If we have to rely on our emotions to keep us going, we are certainly doomed to periods of depression and inactivity and frustration - so let's get 'em under control and not let "feelings" determine whether we are committed to this work or not.

The good news is that usual being used as leverage EVENTUALLY pays off. Ask DC or Tampa.

I have said it before (and will say it again), Portland is just way too ripe for another pro franchise, I just (currently and strongly) think that while MLB drags its heals (with the aid of Potter)...eventaully the NHL and/or MLS will swoop in.

A market with 2.5+ million people will only stay a 1-horse town for so long...