Jeffrey Loria is one of the most hated people in South Florida, and an enterprising Marlins fan is petitioning the White House to do something about the Miami Marlins owner's spendthrift ways.
A petition created at WhiteHouse.gov Monday calls on President Obama to do something about Loria, who slashed payroll in order to reduce player costs a year after opening a brand new stadium funded in large part by public tax dollars.
"We petition the Obama administration to create legislation that would force Jeff Loria to sell the Miami Marlins & leave town," the petition reads.
The petition says teams like the Marlins, who requests Congress pass legislation forcing sports franchises who use public funds to build a stadium or arena to meet a minimum payroll requirement.
A year after the Marlins opened their new stadium (which was funded in large part by public funds), management has slashed payroll from just over $100 million on Opening Day 2012 to around $39 million this season (the second lowest payroll in MLB).
The petition was written by the same fans who were ejected from Marlins Park while protesting the team on Monday. They have set up a website and blog called Rage Against the Marlins.
On Tuesday afternoon the petition had 76 of the 100,000 signatures required for it to receive a response from the White House.
A similar petition was created in February. That petition, which asked President Obama to force Loria to sell the team, failed to meet the minimum signature threshold.
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