The Miami Marlins are a major league baseball team headquartered in Miami, Florida. The Marlins are a part of the National League East division in Major League Baseball. LoanDepot Park is their home park. The Florida Marlins were an expansion team that began play in the 1993 season.

Miami Marlins Founder

Meet Harry Wayne Huizenga Sr., an American businessman and industrialist, lived from December 29, 1937 to March 22, 2018. He was the founder of AutoNation and Waste Management Inc., as well as the founder or co-owner of Blockbuster Video, the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins, the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers, and Major League Baseball’s Florida Marlins (now Miami Marlins).

Huizenga is most known for bringing baseball and ice hockey to South Florida as the founder and first landlord of the Florida Marlins and Florida Panthers, respectively. In addition, in 1996, he purchased the cable television station SportsChannel Florida (now Bally Sports Florida) to broadcast his clubs’ games in the region.

He was chastised for titling the teams after the state of Florida instead of Miami. He added that as an advocate for the city of Fort Lauderdale, his objective was to expand his team’s fan base to encompass Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Huizenga’s brother-in-law sought but failed to acquire the NBA’s Miami Heat in 1994.