Marlins Threaten to Sue Longtime Season-Ticket Holders Who Complained About View-Obscuring Sign

By Tim Elfrink Tue., Mar. 19 2013 at 11:17 AM

Nice, right? Problem was, midway through the season the Marlins decided to up their revenue stream by adding a billboard to the third-base line. Atop the board sits a couple of feet of green foam. And suddenly, Leon's great view wasn't so great anymore:

photo by Jan Leon

Note the several extra inches of green padding.

Those TV cameras all move by gametime, but Leon says the padding obscures the entire third-base side of the field unless you lean all the way up to the concrete. Even worse, it hides hard-hit foul balls that often pop right up off the warning track into the seats.

"You have a split second before it hits you," she says. "It's extremely dangerous."

The Leons complained immediately and asked the Fish to replace the sign with a smaller, digital version. Their letters and calls went unanswered, she says. So when the season ended, she let the sales staff know they wouldn't pay for their second season's seats unless they were moved farther down the third-base line, away from the sign.

"They wouldn't do it," she says. "We're just tired of fighting constantly over our view being blocked and our safety endangered."

So the longtime season-ticket holders gave the team an ultimatum: Move them to a different pair of seats along the third-base line, or they wouldn't pay for a second season. Here's how the Fish responded:

Leon Letter

"I have no intention of renewing," Leon says. "They're a Double A team now. It went down the toilet when they sold off all the players."

Riptide sent the Marlins' media reps an email to get their side of the story, but they haven't responded. ~~We'll update the post if we hear back.~~

Update: The Marlins sent Riptide a statement about the Leons' complaints, saying they've offered the couple other seats but can't move the sign along the third-base line. Here's the full statement:

Fan comfort is of utmost importance to us. We go above and beyond to ensure our fans have a great experience at Marlins Park. We have offered Ms. Leon numerous opportunities to move to a different seat location, and each time she has refused to move. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to relocate the advertising signage that she alleges is blocking her view of certain plays near third base. We would be happy to assist Ms. Leon in relocating her tickets to seats that do not have this allegedly obstructed view. We value our fans and will continue to do our very best to offer them a wonderful baseball experience.

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jaimito

Waaaah. The padding was raised three inches. Hey, lady, at least a foul grounder won't knock your nachos into your lap anymore. Puh-leeze. These people are a match made in heaven for the Fish. Bona fide losers.

Donnie Donnie

lets go mets !!!

Dave

1 Like

I don't get it. I'm assuming that photo is taken from the normal seated position. That foam can't be but 4 or 5 inches high. I don't see how the view has changed that much blocking out anything important. The only gripe I could see if you were use to snagging ground ball fouls along the wall that sign would make it much more difficult.

Shame on them if they only had a verbal agreement. If I spent $25K for seats I would have gotten that in writing.

MichaelB

1 Like

By changing the seats, you change the deal. The offer should be for BETTER seats or let them out of the contract. Loria's made a career/fortune out of reneging on promises. The whole city should be suing him.

FatHand

I agree with the Marlins statement: there will be vast numbers of seats available to relocate their tickets. They can just sit wherever they want.

DJ Frustration

Agree with j.pollo. The couple doesn't want to pay for the tickets this season, even though they have a contract that says they are required. They invented an excuse about padding and went public with the Marlins' letter. If they really wanted to go to the games, they would have just accepted relocated seats that would have probably been better and called it a day. Granted, if the Marlins weren't offering them comparable or better seats then I'd say they have a point. Otherwise, this is just an excuse to get out of a contract.

internetinternet topcommenter

1 Like

The top of the concrete should entirely be covered in padding. Negating the entire complaint. Safety of the players is paramount.

muthrdawg

@internetinternet If I had been able to see things like the warning track and third base it might have been acceptable to say cover the top of the concrete. But when you sit down and cannot see half the field, there is a problem. They acknowledged the problem, just never fixed it.

Kerby Rok

Who r the Marlins lol yeah I don't think ima follow them any more they suck ass

Danny Arango

Someone plz destroy this organization. Thnx.

Danny Baquero

Come at me bro!!

RD Swartz

The dumb keep getting dumber!!!!!!!!!

Leonel Perez

1 Like

I dont hate the marlins i hate the ownership

Juan R. Pollo

1 Like

"I have no intention of renewing," Leon says. "They're a Double A team now. It went down the toilet when they sold off all the players." That's the bottom line. The view-obscuring complaint is BS.

j.pollo

"I have no intention of renewing," Leon says. "They're a Double A team now. It went down the toilet when they sold off all the players." That's the bottom line. Everything else is BS.

muthrdawg

@j.pollo Actually, we notified them before the firesale, before the end of last season.

FatHand

@muthrdawg I take that to mean you work for the team? But I thought Loria said it wasn't a firesale? That the trade was about re-energizing the team? Please don't suggest that Jeffrey Loria may be less than 100% honest!

FatHand

Wait, I totally misunderstood your comment. Please ignore mine.