New Florida Marlins Ballpark to Have Retractable Roof, Air Conditioning to Draw Fans to Day Games

by Corey Hanlon on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 2:37PM

Miami weather in the summertime isn't enviable. The average temperature during the months of July and August hovers around 87 degrees with obscene humidity. June offers no break, either, with an average of almost 7 inches of rain falling that month, the most of any month, according to idcide.com.

Mix those conditions with a team who hasn't made the postseason since 2003, and you have a perfect storm of terribly low attendance numbers.

The Florida Marlins, who play home games in Miami at Sun Life Stadium, are currently dead last in Major League Baseball in attendance at 17,616 fans per game. The team hopes a new stadium, set to open in 2012, changes that.

The new stadium will seat 37,000 and will have some new elements to beat mother nature. A retractable roof and air conditioning should make conditions much more enjoyable for fans.

There's only one more missing element: A winning team.

The Marlins are just four games below .500, though, and have seen success on the road; they are 26-23 in actual ballparks. It's at home, in football friendly Sun Life, where they have struggled at 23-30.

Check out the stadium construction webcam here.