Obvious statement No. 1: The Florida Marlins owners don't like to spend money.
Even more obvious statement: If you don't spend any money and fans still come, you are likely to make lots of it.
Believe those two facts and you can enroll in the Jeff Loria School of Business.
A new report published by Deadspin.com claims the Marlins owner made about $37 million from the team in 2008, a year in which team executives told local politicians it needed a taxpayer-funded stadium to stay afloat.
The Marlins gloomy projections to Miami and Miami-Dade commissioners never came with financial disclosure forms of the team's earnings, another shrewd move that resulted in the team getting a new stadium, set to open 2012.
But while the Marlins cried poor, Loria was cashing hefty checks, thanks to a team with one of the lowest payrolls in baseball.
In 2008, the Marlins had the lowest payroll in baseball, spending about $21 million while fielding an overachieving team. Loria nearly doubled his money that season. The season after, he made $11 million.
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The Marlins low-ball spending grabbed the attention of Major League Baseball this year when the team was admonished to spend cash on players or else. Loria kind of, sorta did that, but he fixed that problem with moves like Sunday's when the team ditched fan-favorite Cody Ross to save $1 million on his contract the rest of the season.
Add to that the fact the team has the most expensive food in baseball, and it's easy to see why Loria laughs all the way to the bank after every season.
But hey, at least the new stadium will have a live fish aquarium.
