The Miami Marlins, perennially near the bottom of the league in payroll, are making a significant jump up in 2017 to approximately $115 million, a franchise record. At the same time, president David Samson said the team is pursuing multiple avenues to increase the club's revenue.
The more pressing matter is a naming-rights deal for Marlins Park, which is owned by Miami-Dade County and operated by the Marlins. Samson said the team is still in talks with three companies and he wants a done deal by the All-Star Game, which will be at Marlins Park in July.
"We cannot figure out which direction we want to go in," Samson said. "It's such a long-term decision that I don't want to make the wrong one."
Naming-rights contracts vary in price and often last in the range of 25 years. The Chicago White Sox last year sold the rights to their home park, now Guaranteed Rate Field, for a total of $25.1 million through 2029.
The larger potential revenue source for the Marlins is their TV rights. Their current arrangement with Fox Sports Florida gives them about $20 million every year through 2020.
The money associated with local TV deals has exploded in recent years. The Marlins _ locked in with FSF _ have not been able to capitalize. The large-market Los Angeles Dodgers, for example, are getting a reported $6 billion over 25 years from Time Warner Cable, while even small-market teams are getting three and four times as much as the Marlins.
"I've spent as much time in Los Angeles as I do in Miami these days," Samson said of his talks with Fox. "And I have great respect for Fox and the people there, and I think that they know and we know that our current TV deal is not commensurate with the revenue that should be coming to the team given the content that we're giving. But that is no fault of anybody's but mine."
Both of those sources of income would help the Marlins reach their goal of having a more consistent year-to-year payroll, an aim Samson detailed even while rumors swirl that owner Jeffrey Loria might sell the team _ which would thrust into question all of these long-term money questions and plans.
"One of the issues we've had as an organization is this sort of up payroll, down payroll, up payroll," Samson said. "I'd rather it be much more like a carousel than a roller coaster. And I think getting to that point requires more revenue."
