Orioles' decision about staying in Fort Lauderdale coming soon

By Anthony Man | Political Writer

June 17, 2008

The competition between Fort Lauderdale and Vero Beach for who gets the Baltimore Orioles for spring training could end soon.

"This is probably coming to a head in the next week or so," U.S. Rep. Ron Klein said Monday in an interview with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board.

Klein, a Boca Raton Democrat who represents part of Fort Lauderdale, held two meetings last week with officials from the city, the Orioles and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The issue is whether the Orioles will continue spring training at Fort Lauderdale Stadium, which sits on airport land.

The Orioles have been paying $70,000 to $120,000 a year in Fort Lauderdale, where the team has trained since 1996. The FAA wants to increase that to $1.3 million.

Klein said he didn't know what would happen.

Vero Beach is reportedly courting the Orioles as a tenant at Dodgertown, which is being vacated by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Klein emphasized that it comes down to a business decision for the Orioles — how much it's willing to pay and what kind of deal it might get elsewhere.

"I don't mean to make it sound grim," he said. "There's still some discussion going on" and moving is not a certainty.

"I haven't heard from the Orioles about what their business model is. How much they're willing to pay," he said.

Klein said Broward County might help with the effort to keep the Orioles. He said he spoke with County Mayor Lois Wexler, who said the county "wants to be helpful as well" but didn't quantify the nature of any assistance.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4550. Read the Broward political blog every weekday at Sun-Sentinel.com/browardpolitics