The flurry of off-season additions was largely predicated on the unveiling of a sparkling new stadium. And now that stadium is the focal point of an on-going federal probe.
And just like that, the flashy transformation of the Florida Miami Marlins appears far more dubious.
Per the Miami Herald:
A newly launched federal investigation into public bond sales for the Marlins 634 million baseball stadium is likely focusing on whether investors were misled about city finances, and whether anyone who championed the wildly unpopular giveaway of public money was improperly influenced, experts say.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe into 500 million worth of bonds sold to construct the project is gearing up as Miami wrestles with the possibility of an unforeseen 1.2 million annual tax bill on the four parking garages it built at the sitean element of the SEC probe.
In March 2009, the Miami-Dade Commission officially approved a 634 million plan for the new stadium, along with four parking garages that the team said it needed to remain viable in the Miami market.
The city and county covered about 80 percent of the costs with the Marlins receiving the vast majority of the stadium's revenue, according to the Herald.
The stadium has been touted as a bastion for the franchise, long relegated to sharing a football stadium with the Dolphins, and perennially in the bottom portion of the league in attendance. All the revenue that the new stadium would bring, many said, allowed the Marlins to spend on the likes of Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle this off-season.
MLB
The franchise had long professed to be short on cash, but upon the county's review of the organization's financial records -- which only occurred after the funding was approved to begin construction -- showed that the team was in far better shape than advertised.
That ultimately generated a public outcry, including one failed lawsuit brought by a local billionaire to stop construction.
In December, the SEC subpoenaed Miami and Miami-Dade asking for thousands of pages of financial records, amongst other documents, reports the Herald. Sources told the paper that the feds are investigating "bond buyers were misled because the city didnt disclose that it might have to pay more than 1 million a year in property taxes for the four garages its building. That failure also could jeopardize the citys ability to meet its debt obligation."
Myriad of financial implications hang in the balance for both the city and county.