Miami Marlins at loanDepot park: Who Owns It, How Parking Works and the 2027 Schedule

Miami-Dade County owns loanDepot park, the Marlins' ballpark at 501 Marlins Way in Miami, under a 2008 stadium agreement among the County, the City of Miami and the team.

The team lists the address as 501 Marlins Way, Miami, FL 33125 (Miami Marlins ballpark guide). The County file that holds the final adopted text is Legislative Item 080526, Resolution R-188-08, with final action on February 21, 2008, at a special meeting; the file notes call it the final version as adopted and point back to #080474 (Miami-Dade Legislative Item 080526).

In that meeting record, Mayor Carlos Alvarez told the Board that the County, not the Marlins, would own the facility and the land under the stadium footprint. The memo adds that the roughly 13 acre stadium site, a team estimate, was owned by the City of Miami and would be conveyed to the County once site work was complete. The motion to approve passed 9-3 (Miami-Dade County record).

The same agreement required the team to change its name to the Miami Marlins before the stadium was finished, and the meeting record says the County would also enter into a 35-year management agreement with the stadium manager (Legislative Item 080526).

Most of Miami-Dade County's $347 million share came from tourist taxes, $297 million in all, with the other $50 million from voter-approved Building Better Communities bonds.

Mayor Alvarez put the split at 85% bed tax and 15% bonds, and said the bond money had been approved by voters for renovating the Orange Bowl and would instead help build a baseball stadium on the Orange Bowl site (Miami-Dade Legislative Item 080526). He also said the team, not taxpayers, would carry cost overruns.

One wording difference sits inside the Miami-Dade file itself. The County Manager's remarks describe the team putting $750,000 a year into a Capital Replacement Fund in return for County financing of $35 million of its share, while the memo says the County will contribute $750,000 per year to the Capital Reserve Fund from CDT funds, and another memo passage says the Team agreed to annual payments of $750,000 into the stadium Capital Reserve Fund, totaling $26.25 million over the 35-year Management Agreement (File 080526). The record does not reconcile these descriptions.

The City of Miami financed and built the ballpark garages and lots, and it repays the debt from convention development taxes and Marlins game parking revenue through 2039.

A 2012 City Attorney opinion says the City built parking structures and surface lots with 5,642 new off-street spaces under a City Parking Agreement among the City, the County and Marlins Stadium Operator, L.L.C., dated April 15, 2009 (City of Miami legal opinion 12-003). That figure differs from the 2008 County terms, which made the City responsible for parking facilities sufficient to house at least 6,000 spaces, estimated at $94 million (Miami-Dade Legislative Item 080526). Both numbers appear in the official records as written.

The City's bondholder report for the year ended September 30, 2021 pledges 100 percent of Convention Development Taxes plus parking revenue from Major League Baseball home games, with related parking surcharge revenue, to repay a $75.54 million Series 2019 refunding note and a $16.6 million Series 2018 refunding. The bonds are payable solely from those revenues through 2039, and remaining principal and interest totaled $115.26 million on the 2019 note and $16.03 million on the 2018 bonds (City of Miami Supplemental Report to Bondholders, FY2021).

The 2008 terms also made the City responsible for operating and maintaining the parking facilities (File 080526). The City's Office of Capital Improvements lists repairs to the four Marlins garages and perimeter sidewalks, including ADA ramps, and reports Phase I complete (City of Miami Office of Capital Improvements).

Parking at the Miami ballpark uses the license plate as the pass, rates are dynamically priced, and buying ahead through official Marlins channels saves $5.

The team says prepaid parking is the only way to guarantee an on-site space, and that passes bought on third-party platforms are not valid in the Miami ballpark lots and may lead to a citation or an invoice by mail (Miami Marlins parking page). Drivers who did not prepay register their plate through QR codes on the signs. Police and parking authorities send cars to whichever facility best suits traffic, so a specific garage is not guaranteed.

Members' reserved parking is in the Home Plate Garage at 1502 NW 7th Street, the First Base Garage at 1502 NW 4th Street and the Third Base Garage at 1402 NW 7th Street, available until 30 minutes before first pitch on a first come, first served basis. Buses park on NW 5th St. between 16th and 17th Ave., along West Lot 3 at 1680 NW 5th Street (Miami Marlins).

For car trouble, the team's guide gives the Miami Parking Authority customer service line, (305) 579-4900, and says free roadside help runs from one hour before first pitch to two hours after games (loanDepot park guide).

Gates at loanDepot park generally open 90 minutes before first pitch, bags must be clear and no larger than 16 by 16 by 8 inches, and the Miami ballpark is cashless.

PNC Club and suite ticket holders get in two hours early. Small clutches up to 6 by 8 inches and medical or infant bags are the exceptions to the clear bag rule. Each fan may bring one sealed, unflavored water bottle of 20 ounces or less and one single-serving food item in a clear plastic bag (Miami Marlins ballpark guide).

Leaving the Miami ballpark and coming back is not allowed on the same ticket, except in an emergency or to visit the New Era Team Store on the West Plaza. Reverse ATMs that turn cash into a card are at section 3. Whether the roof will be open is answered by phone at 305-480-1300 a couple of hours before a home game (loanDepot park guide).

The four public entrances are the First Base Entrance near West Plaza Gates 4, 5 and 6, the Home Plate Entrance near Gates 2, 3 and 4, the Third Base Entrance near East Plaza Gate 11 and the Center Field Entrance near Gate 9. Accessibility and wheelchair seating questions go to 305-480-1636 (Miami Marlins).

The Miami Marlins fact sheet lists a 37,446 capacity, 44 suites and synthetic turf, while the 2008 County terms called for about 37,000 seats, about 60 private suites and a natural grass field.

According to the Marlins, the project was completed in March 2012 after 32 months of construction, with architect Populous, 928,000 square feet, a retractable roof, LEED Gold certification, a BK1 playing surface by Shaw Sports Turf, and four garages plus six surface lots (Miami Marlins ballpark facts).

The adopted 2008 terms described a retractable roof, a natural grass playing field, a capacity of approximately 37,000 seats including about 3,000 club seats, and approximately 60 private suites (Miami-Dade Legislative Item 080526). The meeting record also expected construction to start in November 2008 and finish for the 2011 season. The two sets of figures are presented as each source states them.

The Miami Marlins open 2027 at loanDepot park against the New York Mets on Thursday, March 25, the team's fifth straight season starting at home.

Other home series include Houston April 30 to May 2, Detroit May 24 to 26, Toronto June 14 to 16, the Athletics August 3 to 5, Kansas City August 27 to 29 and Minnesota September 17 to 19, plus a Memorial Day game on May 31 against the Chicago Cubs. The season ends on the road at Atlanta on September 24 to 26 (Miami Marlins 2027 schedule release).

Last verified: October 18, 2026, with the adopted County stadium file, three City of Miami records on the ballpark garages and the Marlins ballpark guide, parking page and 2027 schedule release all reread that day.