Rhona Wise-Imagn Images
The Miami Marlins franchise has been a problem for Major League Baseball for well over a decade. The team continually spends less money on players than they are required to and have finished dead last in attendance in the National League for each of the last 11 full seasons.
It doesn’t matter if the team is good, no one goes to Miami Marlins games. They finished 84-78 and made the playoffs in 2023. Then again, it was the first time the Marlins finished above .500 since 2009. It doesn’t even matter if the weather is beautiful, as was proven on Wednesday when it was 79 degrees in Miami with clear skies.
10 minutes before first pitch. Absolute embarrassment and an awful look for the Marlins pic.twitter.com/ZFegWRu5Fo
— Jerar Encarnación Stan (@SandyJazz69) April 15, 2025
It wasn’t any better on Tuesday either as most of LoanDepot Park was again completely empty.
Just 7,324 fans watched the Marlins vs. Dbacks last night at loanDepot Park. The Marlins entered the game over .500. The weather was 79 degrees with clear skies.
MLB has a big problem in Miami. pic.twitter.com/Z2AysZUksP
— Dan Clark (@DanClarkSports) April 16, 2025
The Miami Marlins have repeatedly been the subject of grievances filed by the MLB Players Association for not meeting the minimum required payroll. Grievances were filed against the team in 2010, 2017 and again in 2018, yet the team continues to underspend year after year
As the Miami Herald reported in January, “teams that receive revenue sharing (like the Marlins) are required to have a luxury-tax payroll that is at least equal to one-and-a-half times the amount they received from the revenue sharing process or else be subject to a potential grievance by the MLBPA.”
The Marlins are expected to receive roughly $70 million in revenue sharing this season, putting their minimum payroll requirement at around $105 million. The team is nowhere near that.
On Wednesday, the Marlins traded infielder Jonah Bride to the Minnesota Twins for cash. Bride batted .276 with 11 home runs and 39 RBI for Miami in 2024. This is how the team operates. Over the past year, the Marlins have traded away a slew of solid players including Jesus Luzardo, Jake Burger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trevor Rogers, Bryan De La Cruz, A.J. Puk, J.T. Chargois and Huascar Brazoban.
It’s not like there aren’t any baseball fans in the Miami area. The Savannah Bananas sold out back-to-back nights at LoanDepot Park in March (thanks in part to the Marlins helping to promote the games). They also sold out LoanDepot Park last October. Fans just don’t want to watch the Miami Marlins.