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The1993 Major League Baseball expansion resulted inMajor League Baseball (MLB) adding twoexpansion teams to theNational League (NL) for the1993 season: theColorado Rockies and the Florida Marlins (now known as theMiami Marlins).
Talks of expansion began on August 8, 1985, when the players and the owners agreed to a newcollective bargaining agreement (CBA). The basic agreement allowed the National League to expand by two members to match the American League, which had done so in 1977. Details of expansion were finalized in the 1990 CBA.[1]
Ten cities were considered serious candidates for the two spots:Buffalo,Charlotte,Denver,Miami,Nashville,Orlando,Phoenix,Sacramento,Tampa Bay, andWashington.[2] TheFlorida Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg andPilot Field in Buffalo were built specifically to lure an existing or expansion MLB franchise.[3]
TheNational League expansion committee consisted ofPittsburgh Pirates Chairman Doug Danfort,New York Mets presidentFred Wilpon andHouston Astros ownerJohn McMullen.[2] On December 18, 1990, the committee eliminated Charlotte, Nashville, Phoenix and Sacramento from consideration to cut the list down to six finalists.[4] With three sites fromFlorida remaining in contention it became apparent that one would win out while the other spot would go to a non-Florida team.[citation needed]
After previous failed attempts to bring Major League Baseball to the state of Colorado (most notably thePittsburgh Pirates nearly relocating to Denver following thePittsburgh drug trials in 1985), by the late 1980s a team seemed to be a possibility in Denver. Eugene Orza, associate general counsel of theMajor League Baseball Players Association, stated that he expected Denver would receive one of the expansion franchises.[5]
The Colorado Baseball Commission, led by banking executive Larry Varnell, was successful in getting Denver voters to approve a 0.1% sales tax to help finance a new baseball stadium. Also, an advisory committee was formed in 1990 by then-Governor of ColoradoRoy Romer to recruit an ownership group. The group selected was led by John Antonucci, an Ohio beverage distributor, andMichael I. Monus, the head of thePhar-Mor drugstore chain. Local and regional companies—such as Erie Lake, Hensel Phelps Construction,KOA Radio, and theRocky Mountain News—rounded out the group. The Denver group chose to call their franchise theColorado Rockies, the same name used as theNational Hockey League franchise that played in Denver from 1976 to 1982.
U.S. SenatorConnie Mack III fromFlorida, the grandson of baseball greatConnie Mack and a member of the Senate Task Force on Major League Baseball, pushedBaseball CommissionerFay Vincent to expand to Florida.[6]
On March 7, 1990,Wayne Huizenga, CEO ofBlockbuster Entertainment Corporation, announced he had purchased 15% of the NFL'sMiami Dolphins and 50% of the Dolphins' home,Joe Robbie Stadium, for an estimated $30 million. Huizenga stated his intention to aggressively pursue an expansion franchise. MLB had announced a few months earlier that it intended to add two new teams to the National League. It was a foregone conclusion that one of them would be placed in Florida; the only question was whether Huizenga would beat out competing groups fromOrlando andTampa Bay. Orlando fielded a very spirited campaign bolstered by its family-oriented tourism industry. Tampa Bay already had a baseball park — theFlorida Suncoast Dome inSt. Petersburg, completed in 1990.
On June 10, 1990, Huizenga was awarded an expansion franchise in theNational League (NL) for a $95 million expansion fee and the team began operations in1993 as theFlorida Marlins. The Miami group chose to call themselves the "Florida" Marlins to broaden their fanbase to the entire state,[7] while reviving the nickname "Marlins" from previous minor league teams, theMiami Marlins of the International League from 1956 to 1960, and theMiami Marlins (1962–1970) andMiami Marlins (1982–1988) teams that played in theFlorida State League.[8]
In June 1991, the expansion committee accepted the bids of the Miami and Denver groups to debut in 1993.[3][9] Expansion was approved unanimously by all teams in July 1991.[7]
Anexpansion draft to stock both franchises was set for November 1992.[7] Though previous expansions allowed the drafting of players from the same league only, Vincent declared that theAmerican League would receive$42 million of theNational League's $190 million in expansion revenue so that the AL would provide players in the National League expansion draft.[10] In an attempt to win support in the American League and balance the vote, Vincent decreed that the AL owners were entitled to 22% of the $190 million take. This decision marked the first time in expansion history that leagues were required to share expansion revenue or provide players for another league's expansion draft. Vincent said the owners expanded to raise money to pay theircollusion debt.[11]
The Tampa Bay Baseball Group sued MLB for allegedly reneging on an agreement to grant an expansion team to Tampa. The suit was settled in 2003, five years after Tampa's major league team, theDevil Rays (now simply the Rays), began play in the American League.[12]
