LoanDepot Park
Team: Miami Marlins
Address: 501 Marlins Way
Location: Miami, Florida
Opened: April 4, 2012
Capacity: 36,742
Rating: 7/10
LoanDepot Park is located around 2 miles outside of downtown Miami in the Little Havana neighborhood. By official capacity, it’s the third-smallest stadium in MLB and by actual capacity, it’s the smallest. It was the first MLB ballpark to be designed in a contemporary architectural style.
The ballpark is easily accessible via multiple public transportation options, including two Miami-Dade Metrorail stops and eight Metrobus routes. Lyft in Miami was also super cheap and drivers always showed up within one minute. There are also four parking structures and six surface lots, starting at $15.
There were very few vegetarian options at the ballpark. I always check ahead of time and saw that they have Vegan Impossible Nachos, Mushroom Tacos, and Sweet Potato Fries, but those places looked closed when I attended. I did enjoy some pretzels from their 3o5 Menu which serves ballpark staples for $3 or $5.
The ballpark was fairly empty, but it was still lively. The team kept fans engaged in between innings and they have murals and artist replicas located throughout, plus a bobblehead museum located on the third-floor plaza featuring 600+ baseball players, mascots, and broadcasters. From 2012-2019, they had a swimming pool and the Clevelander Bar and from 2012-2020, they had an aquatic home plate backstop. Unfortunately both no longer exist.
There were very few fans in attendance at the game. In fact, when I looked behind me right as it was starting, the section appeared fully empty. The Marlins have a losing record this year, but with the price of tickets and easy accessibility from the downtown area, I would expect more fans to attend.
LoanDepot Park is designed with some classic Miami touches which add to the ballpark experience and the price of tickets can’t be beat. There’s definitely a lack of enthusiasm from Miami locals as shown through the low attendance and there isn’t much of a view or anything to walk around and see, but I would definitely attend a game again if I was in town.