MLB's Most Confusing Stadium

[@matthew01234]

There's another BIG problem with the stadium and it is location related but it's beyond just being in Florida. The place in Miami they chose to put that stadium is awful. Not like the Trop where it's hard to get to or anything. The biggest problem with the stadium is there is NOTHING to do outside of the stadium. Most stadiums have bars or restaurants or even nightclubs outside. There is NOTHING like that around the Marlins stadium. I have a friend who flew all the way down from New Jersey so he could watch his Mets play there. He knew his flight was going to get him to the stadium over 4 hours before the game started so he brought hundreds of dollars with him so he could go eat at a restaurant and then drink at a bar. He got there and started recording himself walking around looking for ANYWHERE to spend his money. There was nothing. There is literally no bars or restaurants within walking distance of that stadium. The guy sat on a bench with his friend for over 4 hours with money to burn in his pocket. He then went in and watched the game and decided he was never going to that park again for the rest of his life. No wonder that stadium isn't helping the Miami economy. They don't have places for fans to spend their money around there even if they want to. I have been to several different MLB stadiums in my life and I have never seen one that isn't covered with restaurants and bars outside for people to spend their money. The fact that this stadium doesn't even have 1 place like that is really stupid. They would rather you sit on a bench than give them your money.

[@zcorpalpha2462]

Visit Atlanta Braves Truist Park His money 💵 would be spent, 😅

[@bobbowie9350]

Why not just go to the game lol

[@KOSMOinfinite]

From my limited understanding, I belive that Marlins Park is near a hood. Or, near an area that isn't viewed as favorable and they didn't want to commit any $ to amenities. Bad mistake. They should have put retail on the base of all those clunky parkade structures that surround the stadium. Could have made a pocket of density around the stadium. Also, not good how no rapid transit is near the stadium as well. Poorly thought out in the planning. Marlins made the wrong assumption that the ballpark is the attraction versus the overall experience.

[@matthew01234]

@@zcorpalpha2462 Truist is one of the stadiums I've been to. You got that right. They literally built an entire mini-city around that place. It's basically the Capitol of Braves Country but they call it "The Battery." Hundreds of upscale condos (as opposed to "affordable housing" where not many people can afford to spend hundreds of dollars a night on a game) surround the stadium along with clubs, restaurants and bars surround the entire stadium. I think one of the restaurant/bars is even actually part of the stadium. If you ever watch a Braves game they have a big restaurant in the outfield called "The Chop House." You can go into that restaurant from the outside if you want. I'm not sure if you can see the game without a ticket but it's basically a 2-way restaurant. You can enter the restaurant and eat and drink from the outside half and if you have a ticket you can walk to the inside half and keep eating and drinking while you watch the game from inside the stadium. The other smart thing the Braves did is they own ALL of these restaurants, clubs, bars, condos and even office space so even during the offseason they are raking in $. I'm hoping that's what the Rays are planning to do in St. Petersburg because they aren't going to have any fans unless they build a mini-city of nothing but Rays fans with money to burn living right around the stadium. The Battery is a cool place. As a baseball fan I would even consider living there if I were looking for a place to move to. There are nice condos where your back porch connects to the entrance of the stadium itself. In your backyard you can literally step over your awning and walk 20 feet to get a signed autograph from Ronald Acuña, Jr or Chipper Jones or Matt Olson many days out of the year when they have an event. When they don't have a signing event they typically have a lot of outdoor concerts from famous musicians for free 50 feet from where you live. You don't even have to leave your property to watch it. Everyone there is a diehard fan of the team. When I went every single one of the many hundreds of condos had giant Braves banners hanging off their balcony. It's a lot easier to make money when you make sure your biggest fans (who have disposable income) don't even have to get in their car to go to a game. I wouldn't even be surprised if some of those condos had the price of season tickets rolled into the lease and you just get Braves season tickets when you move in. They made sure you never have to go anywhere else if you live and work there. Where at a Marlins game you better not show up early because there is nothing to do, at a Braves game you better get their by noon for a 7pm game because their is too much stuff to do. And the Braves own all of it so no matter where you go they are the ones making the money. Very smart way to build a stadium IMO.

[@matthew01234]

@@bobbowie9350 Going to an MLB game is an entire day event and a lot of people travel from far away to go to them. It's almost impossible to gauge how to show up to the stadium at the exact perfect time. Every other stadium I've been to there are literally thousands of people who show up early whether it be due to a plane ride or beating traffic or what. Even thousands more stay late after the game to avoid traffic. Going to an MLB game is an all day event and for many people it's a culture. Hit a restaurant at noon. Hit the bar at 2:00. Walk to the stadium around 6:45. Hang out at a bar afterwards until the traffic dies down. Successful MLB teams make their fans WANT to stay at the stadium area all day. The Marlins stadium treats them like a patient using a hospital bed they can't wait to get out of the city. Not a good business model. That on top of the fact they don't have a great team because they refuse to responsibly invest in their own product is a big reason their aren't many fans at any of the games.

[@Mkultra_isReal]

It boggles my mind that they would build a retractable roof without thinking about whether or not it will be used

[@chicagodude8888]

The hotdog vendors and concessions charge 10 cents for extra ketchup packets. The Marlins would draw draw 30k consistently l if they didn’t charge 10 cents for ketchup and mustard packets. They’re a passionate fanbase who refuse to get ripped off.

[@ThatSalviKid]

when was this ? i never had this issue & i go to the games atleast 5 times a year

[@chicagodude8888]

@@ThatSalviKid That’s the punch line. Every fan base with attendance issues has a default, built in excuse. Some more valid than others but I get the sense Miami just doesn’t give a sh!t about pro sports with the Heat and Dolphins being a marginal exception.

[@kentstallard6512]

Passionate fan base? LOLOLOLOL

[@RYMAN1321]

The hell? They charge for those packets? That’s ridiculous

[@plmn93]

The problem with a transparent roof is that it acts as a greenhouse, making it very expensive to cool. This is why Allegiant Stadium ended up using a translucent roof instead of the transparent ones you see at US Bank and SoFi. In my opinion it's not much different than the old teflon domes. But yeah, otherwise I agree, retractable roofs add hundreds of millions to the cost of stadiums, are rarely open, and have a dark and industrial feel from a thankfully bygone era when closed.

[@RYMAN1321]

Exactly, doesn’t the A/C have to work more as well?

[@RedRaiderLobo20]

Went to a WBC game there where the roof was open. Even in mid March, that’s shit was too hot.

[@RYMAN1321]

I can attest I’ve been on vacation in Florida a couple times in March and yeah it does get quite humid even then

[@frankalmanzar3492]

I went to a couple of marlins games this season. It was very good. The marlins were the leading team to win by 1 run and they were usually come from behind wins. How’s that not fun to watch?

[@chrisguardiano6143]

Another causality to the building of LoanDepot Park in my view is the Miami Hurricanes football program because in order to build it, they had to tear the iconic Orange Bowl down when the Orange Bowl could have easily been saved & given a major renovation to make it more modern. As a result it hurt the Canes attendance big time because fans have to venture all the way out to Hard Rock Stadium (well over an hour away) to watch their team play. It has also hurt the recruiting as well because potential recruits especially local ones are seeing that they will likely be playing in a half empty NFL stadium should they decide to join Miami. This along with the constant cycle of coaches that go through the program are the main reasons why Miami has not been in the national championship picture for over 20 years. Until Miami decides to build their own stadium closer to where their fan base lives they will continue to struggle both with fan support & recruiting.

[@saints093]

The Marlins should have built a new baseball stadium in downtown Miami, I’m sure there was land in downtown Miami for the Marlins to build a new stadium

[@joshualieberman7558]

Ok the fish tank thing was because yes some glass broke and no fish were hurt but the tank was just a disaster waiting to happen. At some point that tank would have broken. The fish were in terrible condition between balls hitting the tank and fans accidentally (or not accidentally) kicking it the fish were horribly treated. Stress kills fish and that was a very stressful place to be a fish. The last thing the team needed was a PR nightmare of a dead fish on live TV right behind home plate because you can be sure some news agency (probably a liberal one) would have just gobbled that up. The tank had to go.

[@pm5206]

Ironically, someone sued the Rays and they have a stupid net over the Rays touch tank. I was there before and after the net. It looked better without the net. Homerun balls would splash into the tank. We called it a splash homerun.

[@Soapdish747]

man i fuckin love these videos, keep pumping em out man 👍

[@dragon32210]

I'm hoping to go to a couple of games next season (I live in the northern part of the state)

[@cpl.m9645]

If they built this in Tampa for the Rays... They would be killing it with attendance.

[@howie9751]

I was in Miami when the stadium was about to open, and it looked from the car like a planetarium.

[@danielkurlan182]

I rather watch videos like this from people you know who actually been to these stadiums your taking about

[@davej.meister5421]

Why this sports venue has NOT hosted a Final Four or a single March Madness game is just beyond me 🤷‍♂🤷‍♂?!

[@BradAnderson-b8o]

Beautiful ballpark. Can't wait to finally see it in person next season.

[@aaronb3522]

tl;dr its #1 problem is the fact that the Marlins play there

[@pauldavis1943]

Hey Ginger, I hope you do a series on English soccer stadiums. Would love to hear your criticism of those.

[@northernsurferboy]

that stadium is in bad part of town, the translucent roof would make the the field and the fans feel hot because it would be a huge greenhouse

[@darryljorden9177]

Not sure how a translucent roof would fare during a hurricane (in Florida, you always have to account for possible hurricanes).

[@fishingthelist4017]

Both Florida teams messed up with the location of their ball parks. Cities trying to land an expansion team should apply those lessons and make plans to build their stadium where the greatest number of fans can easily attend games.

[@bobduffy7744]

@@darryljorden9177I thought the same thing but you can put UV tint up. Not sure that would look better then what they have now tho.

[@pm5206]

@@darryljorden9177High winds are no match to strong well built structures. There hasn’t been any major storm in Tampa and Miami for decades. Not concerned about them because they are extremely rare. The heat could be an issue.

[@zcorpalpha2462]

We have a beautiful ballpark in Atlanta / Cobb Area 🥃🔥

[@xholic1403]

I live in Miami, and I would like to go to more games but getting to and from the stadium sucks, you are practically competing with rush hour traffic on top of the increased game traffic for the ballpark. It would help if you arrive at the stadium early to avoid the traffic but they open the gates so late and close to the starting pitch that you are better off sitting in traffic and getting there after the gates are open. It's gotten a lot better, especially with an increase in local police directing traffic. I love the stadium, the atmosphere can be fun, if the Marlins become fun to watch I could see bigger crowds easily. I don't mind sitting in traffic to go see a game as long as the Marlins put on a show, it has potential, there's just something off/missing. With that being said, I can't wait for the next opening day to go back to the stadium and hopefully, just maybe we get lucky and have the roof open, I would also love to be at the stadium for a Playoff game on a mild south Florida autumn night with the roof open.

[@sfdko3291]

It's really crazy how many Florida fans say the same thing. Damn. Public transportation has to be a thing. I couldn't imagine driving to Yankee Stadium.

[@reesejabs1895]

I'd be very hesitant to try to build a new stadium in other cities after watching this video.

[@pm5206]

MLB should have neutral sites for World Series.

[@RYMAN1321]

I’ve been to Florida a few times and yeah the traffic is pretty atrocious LOL

[@ronbrown7941]

The stadium is so beautiful. South Florida should support this team. Ginger, you should stop being so negative about stadiums

[@spacemansports4129]

This guy talks a lot about LoanDepot park in terms of baseball stadiums. He has some sort of obsession with it.

[@jcngokai-76]

The problem is that the site was originally built for the University of Miami, Florida known as the Orange Bowl, and nobody wants that stadium built as such.

[@danielhernden7454]

He’s not the emotionally well-adjusted ginger.

[@band4lyfe]

This is the only MLB stadium I’ve been to and it was nice. Hope to maybe return but I was supporting the opposing team so… idk

[@KOSMOinfinite]

I don't agree with the translucent roof idea. 1. The technology was not far enough along back in 2012, unless you paid big time $$$, the tech then was clunky and you got very cloudy looking roofs (Compare US Bank Filed to SoFi Field. Even better look at BC Place and it's roof, which is from the same vintage as Marlins Park; cloudy and clunky ETFE.). 2. A translucent roof would kill the idea of natural grass as these roofs increase the internal temperature inside forcing additional costs towards climate control to keep the stadium from turning into a greenhouse on steroids ( The grass gives off heat as well). 3. It limits events. SoFi can't host the NCAA Final Four because it has too much glare and is open air. Having a non-transluscent roof gives you more control of the atmosphere inside which enables more events. It is the only large fully covered space in Miami and it hosts concerts and trade shows for this reason. The roof is the least of the issues. It is far too restrictive rules on how and when to open it that is the issue with the roof, not the roof itself.

[@plmn93]

ETFE has always been able to be as clear or opaque as the tenant wants. But if it is totally clear it heats up more and costs a lot more money to air condition. This is why Allegiant Stadium ended up going with a translucent ETFE after the initial renderings had shown it clear. US Bank is a middle ground...from inside the stadium on a sunny day it looks pretty clear and really does give an outdoor feel indoors. It also needed a much stronger support structure than SoFi to deal with snow loads. It was all by design for economic and climate reasons and had nothing to do with the technology itself. US Bank has hosted many concerts, trade shows, and the Final Four. The roof has not limited the events it can host one bit. It's very busy and the open and airy atmosphere is night and day better than any retractable or fixed roof stadium in the NFL. You can use grass inside as well, if the climate allows it. Vegas and Arizona both have grass fields that move in and out of the stadium.

[@ronpeacock9939]

Sadly, the stadium isn’t the problem here… It’s location sucks…. and lets face it… the Marlins have never been a big draw.. but the stadium itself is a nice stadium… it’s mostly.. just where it is.. MLB in Florida has only been a big draw in Spring Training times..

[@davej.meister5421]

Why hasn't the NCAA hosted March Madness or Final Four games there, yet? That would be a HUGE fan draw.

[@RYMAN1321]

Never been a big draw? Even during their two World Series runs ?

[@ronpeacock9939]

@@RYMAN1321 The Rays can’t even sell out playoff games… The Marlins only seem to be a bandwagon team… when they do well, they come… though the ownership really is the problem..

[@RYMAN1321]

@@ronpeacock9939 Maybe, but they still have accomplished more in their first ten years (winning those two World Series) than many other teams in the league, especially the five other teams (a few of them who are around a half century old) who I’m sure wish they had at least one World Series title.

[@ronpeacock9939]

@@RYMAN1321 Yeah, well they got their WS championships before and very early in Loria’s ownership… after that second one and he sold the team off.. they’ve been just like the Rays.. a place where prospects go to get their shot.. then moved for more propects.

[@bnx200]

I went to a game there. I think it's a beautiful stadium. If I lived in Miami, I would go to games regularly. My only complaint is that their pizza isn't that great.

[@detlionslover]

Dg I know this is random but can you go back to uploading the instant reaction college football videos early in the morning I love waking up and watching them.

[@jjjudgemusic]

One of the most memorable stadiums I’ve been too

[@rynoqqm5585]

Great stadium, head to calle ocho after/before games

[@thefergyfilms]

I believe most major league owners have no idea what makes a stadium great, as evidenced by their reckless bulldozing of beloved Jewel Box Ballparks in the 90's in favor of cookie cutter "modern" stadiums they are already trying to have replaced. Comiskey Park being bulldozed in favor of Gaurenteed Rate is a crime and has seemingly only hurt the team's value and attendance while resulting in a far lesser experience.

[@chrisryks2593]

If they open and close for the rain it would not be bad. It has complete different vibes when open. It is ugly and difficult to get into with most people who would rather go to minor league games. When the roof is closed it is like going to the metrodome or Kingdome. The atmosphere of games are terrible and has been ugly most of its life. Most would rather go back to games at Joe Robbie/ pro Player/ zhard Rock stadium. Attendance was almost better also.

[@reesejabs1895]

Forget expanding baseball! Too many teams are in trouble now.

[@forevertj]

Natural light is a beer.

[@jdspreest]

Retractable roofs lol

[@davej.meister5421]

That's so Miami can host March Madness or Final Four games...which has yet to occur. Totally merited.

[@paulkowald4057]

I like this stadium has a quiet room for children on the spectrum who are overstimulated

[@abyz1467]

I’ve been to 13 MLB stadiums, and this one is easily the worst.

[@mayquelmiranda6282]

This guy HATES MIAMI

[@ConfidentBald-sx9nx]

It rained when his mom took him to Florida in 1994

[@bobbowie9350]

He's depressed. Leave him alone!

[@davej.meister5421]

He's probably a Democrat who dislikes Florida and its governor.

[@theredraven]

Probably an Indians fan still seething about 1997.

[@davej.meister5421]

@@theredraven Lol Okay. Now you're getting a bit personal there. And I'm a fan of the former Indians (now Guardians.)

[@bconni2]

Miami makes no sense as a baseball town. you would think with the huge Cuban population in the area they'd have a higher attendance, being that Cubans are big baseball fans. But no

[@RYMAN1321]

But they still have two World Series championships. Surely a strong fan base would help a team be successful right ?

[@jonstefanik9400]

In the bottom 5 on my list.

[@stevensuarez4843]

In the TOP 5 of my list😊.

[@kentstallard6512]

What's confusing is why Miami--or any city in Florida--was granted a franchise. Swampdwellers simply don't care about baseball. It's a summer game and summer in the swamp is horrible unless you live on the beach. There is no fan base for a team that won two WS and built a new stadium. Meanwhile the Rays are the best small market franchise with NO FAN BASE. Hopefully MLB will relocate both teams soon. If not, then they'll be forced to when the swamp is underwater in a few decades.

[@williammummert645]

who cares