Jacksonville among cities seeking state money for stadium projects

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Four Florida stadium projects are in play for state money after submitting applications by a Saturday deadline for a new construction-funding program, the Department of Economic Opportunity said Monday.

Absent is any Major League Baseball team, which means the professional sport won't have to address Florida's push to change a league policy on Cuban ballplayers for at least the next year.

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Applications seeking sales tax dollars have been submitted by Daytona International Speedway; the Miami Dolphins for Sun Life Stadium; the city of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Jaguars for EverBank Field; and Orlando for a stadium to house a Major League Soccer expansion franchise, Orlando City SC.

This is the first year for the process, which offers sales-tax dollars that would be spread over 30 years based upon the costs of stadium projects.

The new law (HB 7095), approved this spring, requires the Department of Economic Opportunity to evaluate each application within 60 days and by Feb. 1 provide the Legislature with a list that ranks the applications based on economic viability.

"The House is monitoring the way the funds are distributed to make sure it is working well," Michael Williams, a spokesman for incoming House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, said in an email Monday.

The intent of the review process is to reduce lobbying about stadium projects that has confronted lawmakers in recent sessions.

The Dolphins and Daytona International Speedway are each seeking $3 million a year. Orlando has requested $2 million a year. Jacksonville wants $1 million in annual distributions.

For the current fiscal year, $7 million will be available. The funding pool will grow to an annual total of $13 million starting in the 2015-16 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2015.

State lawmakers added a provision to the new law that would make Major League Baseball ineligible to participate in the process until its rules are changed regarding Cuban ballplayers.

Crisafulli, through Williams, called the way some foreign players are handled "troubling."

"Any state action will depend on how MLB deals with their internal policies," Williams said in the email.

Major League Baseball allows foreign nationals from any nation other than Canada to negotiate as free agents with any club. However, a U.S. embargo prohibits Cuban players from negotiating as free agents while still in Cuba and requires that those who defect to America enter the annual amateur draft.

The issue was added to the stadium bill in response to reports that detailed Los Angeles Dodgers Yasiel Puig's escape from Cuba. Those reports involved a Mexican drug cartel, death threats and demands for 20 percent of his major league salary. Puig went to Mexico so he could become a free agent rather than having to enter the draft.

The law seeks to spur Major League Baseball to change its policy so that Cuban ballplayers who come to the United States would be free agents.

MLB spokesman Pat Courtney didn't respond to a request for comment Monday. In May, as the law was being approved, Courtney said dialogue had started with the players union on the issue. No changes to the draft rules have been announced.