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I can be tough on Orlando City from time to time, but there is one thing that is consistently undeniable... Their fan support is incredible.
The same can not be said for the Miami Marlins. The Marlins are, and have been, one of the least supported teams in all of professional sports. The team expanded in '93 (one year after a young Brandon Kravitz moved to South Florida) and there was a buzz in the area, as there always is for new things. Of course, the team was behind the 8-ball so-to-speak, given 90% of the community grew up elsewhere. And of course that "elsewhere" typically being places like Boston, Baltimore, New York, Pittsburgh, all cities with rich baseball history. So, the Marlins were a fun little team and event to bring the family to, but most baseball fans in the Broward/Dade area already had true allegiance elsewhere.
Now, this is where good ownership, consistent success, and likability in the community can shift interest over time. Of course, you know how that story goes. Every time the Marlins have seen success or become attached to a superstar, they're out the door soon after. The Marlins won the Series in '97, then immediately sold off half the team. The Marlins then won again in 2003, and when it was time to pay up for that young talent, they let 'em walk or traded them, again. Miguel Cabrera...remember when he was a Marlin? Now the same is happening, Jeffrey Loria is trying to sell the team, and he wants top dollar on the deal. This means good-bye Giancarlo Stanton and your 325 million dollar contract.
Point is, the fans don't support the team for a variety of reasons. But, the top of that list is inconsistent management/ownership and #2 on the list probably isn't even close.
So like the title of the article says...Orlando City outdraws the Marlins.
Orlando City's average home attendance 2017: 25,280
Marlins average home attendance 2017: 20,904
The Marlins are a MLB team with 2 World Series titles in their short history, there's no reason why an MLS upstart team in a city with a smaller population should be outdrawing you in the sports world. It's sad to think about how far they've fallen out of relevancy in that town and how they'll likely never get it back, especially considering they were averaging 37 thousand a game in '93, when I was just a youngster growing up in Broward County.
- Kravitz