The Business of Sports

After nearly two decades of struggling to stay afloat in a stadium designed for football, in March 2012 the Miami Marlins excitedly opened the doors to a sparkling new $634 million ballpark that was supposed to be their ticket to economic stability.The franchise shelled out almost $200 million in high-profile offseason signings, hoping to capitalize on the honeymoon period that used to consistently accompany the opening of a new baseball stadium.But a horrible on-the-field performance in 2012 prompted management to clean house and slash some $55 million in payroll for this year, causing the honeymoon period to be declared conclusively over."Over? Oh my God, they're in divorce court. They've got to find counseling to get them back together," said Michael Cramer, former president of the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars. "This is going to be a tough four or five years."After enjoying a 44.2% spike in average attendance last season to a still-below-average 27,400, attendance has come crashin...

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