LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, will host games during the round robin stage of the LIDOM playoffs in 2024-25. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Prior to the third and final game of the Titanes del Caribe exhibition series between Aguilas Cibaenas and Tigres del Licey Sunday, LIDOM President Vitelio Mejia Ortiz confirmed to the media that the league is committed to work on bringing games for the 2024-25 regular season to play Miami’s loanDepot Park.
Ortiz said during the pregame press conference that the league will try to schedule the first two dates of the 2024-25 Round Robin playoff stage to be played at the home of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins, with two double-headers sometime in late December or early January.
“We are dreaming of taking the first two days of next season’s Round Robin to the Miami Marlins stadium,” Ortiz said.
One possible plan for the league is to potentially hold two games each day for two days at loanDepot Park. The 2024 Caribbean Series at the venue this upcoming February, and it will be the first time that LIDOM teams played at the venue since the Serie de Las Americas during the 2015-16 winter league season.
The top four teams in the standings following the LIDOM regular season advance to the round-robin stage of the playoffs, with the top two teams in the round robin advancing to the best-of-seven championship series. The LIDOM champion represents the Dominican Republic at the Caribbean Series.
The Tigres del Licey and the Aguilas Cibaeñas participated in the Série de Las Américas event along with Navegantes del Magallanes and Cardenales de Lara from Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional. The Aguilas won the Serie de Las Americas the only year it was hosted, beating Cardenales de Lara in the bottom of the ninth inning 4-3 on Zolio Almonte’s two-out, two-run single.
The agreement could take a few months to be determined unless an announcement could be made prior to the start of the 2024 Caribbean Series at loanDepot Park from February 1-9 with seven teams from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Curacao, and Panama participating in the event.
The 2024 Caribbean Series will be the first time that event will be played at a Major League Baseball stadium. Miami is hosting the Caribbean Series for the first time since the 1991 tournament, which was held at Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium. The city also hosted the 1990 Caribbean Series at the Orange Bowl, which was on the current site of loanDepot Park.
LIDOM and the Federación Nacional de Peloteros Profesionales’ next event is on December 3 at Estadio Cibao, home of the Águilas Cibaeñas with the 2023 Dia De Leyendas celebration between the Puerto Rico All-Stars and Dominican Republic All-Stars, featuring current and former Major League Baseball players from both countries. The event will include a Home Run Derby with a mix of players.
On December 2, the Aguilas Cibaeñas and the 2023 Dia De Leyendas event hosted by FENAPEPRO will have a special tour of Estadio Cibao for fans of all ages, with baseball legends and close family members of the organization in attendance. The 2023 Dia De Leyendas event will pay tribute to the 1999-2000 Aguilas Cibaenas championship season in which the organization won the league and appeared in the Caribbean Series 23 years ago.