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''Miami Dolphins want to make Sun Life Stadium feel more like the old Orange Bowl''

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by djphinfan, Feb 4, 2012.

  1. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    "Adding seats will dramatically help the energy and feeling and excitement in the stadium. It's also a challenge when you've got the stands so far away from the field, and we want to rectify that."

    ''NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell made it clear Friday that the Dolphins shouldn't expect to host another Super Bowl until they make significant improvements to Sun Life Stadium.

    That was no surprise to Dolphins CEO Mike Dee, whose focus now is revamping the stadium to make it more attractive to his team's fans.

    Ironically, that could mean making it more like the Orange Bowl, the stadium the team abandoned in 1987 and was demolished four years ago.

    In the Orange Bowl, the fans were on top of the action and could intimidate the opponent. Sun Life Stadium is often comparatively lifeless, especially at Dolphins games in recent years.

    Dee's plan is to get fans closer to the action. Because the club no longer shares the stadium with the Marlins, the Dolphins can reconfigure the field and potentially add 3,500 lower-bowl seats between the 20-yard lines.

    They also could put fans just 18 feet from the team benches instead of the current 80 feet.''

    http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports...ns-want-to-make-sun-life-stadium-2146961.html..


    Me likey..Our players and fans deserve it, lets hope the NFL can help fund it..Very exciting news..
     
  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Man, I wish we could just get a new stadium.
     
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  3. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    me too bro, but I'll take what I can get..
     
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  4. Killerphins

    Killerphins The Finger

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    It is tough to move concrete.
     
  5. ToddsPhins

    ToddsPhins Banned

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    Great to hear Deej.
    80 feet? That's ridiculous.
     
  6. ToddsPhins

    ToddsPhins Banned

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    [​IMG]
     
  7. Coral Reefer

    Coral Reefer Premium Member

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    Godell has a LOT of nerve continuing his assault on S. FL. considering just how damn good this area has been to the NFL and their signature game.

    Pretty sick of hearing his crap and I'd hope there are people in the Phins organization pushing back a little.
    It rains for one Super Bowl and all of a sudden the stadium isn't good enough for them.
    Meanwhile they schedule a Super Bowl in an open air Stadium in NY....... Has Godell checked the weather in NY in Feb?
    Will his VIP ticket holders that couldn't handle mist in Miami be happy with 30 degree temps and sleet?

    Bottom line is that there isn't another area in the Country that offers as much in hosting a Super Bowl than S. FL.
    Someone needs to remind this asshat of that.
     
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  8. Coral Reefer

    Coral Reefer Premium Member

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    Yeah I would love to see the Engineering plan behind this.
     
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  9. SICK

    SICK Lounge Moderator

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    Hence them saying that they will be "adding" seats.
     
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  10. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    you know what Reef, if it gets the job done, I don't care what is said, and how its done, we've suffered for too long.
     
  11. SICK

    SICK Lounge Moderator

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    I dont care if they put 5000 lawn chairs on the field. Get the fans closer to the action.
     
  12. ToddsPhins

    ToddsPhins Banned

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    Excellent point, Coral.
    Super Bowl in NY.... in February? Too bad all the New Yorkers'll be down here. :lol:

    Nice job, Goodell. Put a lot of thought into that one, did you?
     
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  13. ToddsPhins

    ToddsPhins Banned

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    Perhaps he was referring to Goodell. "Move" as in "inspire", dumdum. :whistling:
     
  14. jw3102

    jw3102 season ticket holder

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    I agree. The South Florida area has beautiful beaches, beautiful winter weather, and plenty of hotel rooms for all the Super Bowl fans. If the old Orange Bowl, with its dilapidated restrooms, and terrible seats was good enough to host several Super Bowls, the present stadium certainly is far superior to the old Orange Bowl. The NFL is merely trying to force the citizens of Miami Dade County to fund these stadium improvements with additional taxpayer money, by withholding future Super Bowls in South Florida until these improvements are made.

    If the NFL and the Dolphins owner want to pay for all these improvements to the stadium, great. If on the other hand they expect the citizens of Miami Dade County to instead pay for these upgrades, they can hold the Super Bowl game in Indiana every year, as far as I am concerned.

    Joe Robbie built the entire stadium without taxpayer money, so Ross who is certainly much richer than Robbie ever was, can certainly afford to pay for for the upgrades he and the NFL seem to think is necessary for the stadium.
     
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  15. jw3102

    jw3102 season ticket holder

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    I have no idea what you are talking about when you say we have suffered because of the present stadium. It is obvious that you never attended games at the old Orange Bowl if you think that fans are now suffering in the present stadium. I attended games at the new stadium for well over 20 years and I never felt that I was suffering because of the stadium. My suffering had to do with the poor play of the team over the last decade, certainly not because of the physical structure of the stadium.

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with the stadium which a winning team will not solve. I watched many games in the stadium during the Marino years and I can assure you that the crowd noise was extremely loud when the Dolphins were winning games back then. Perhaps selling only 44,000 season tickets this past year and having thousands of empty seats at each home game is the real problem, not the stadium itself.

    As I have stated a number of times on this forum, I have no problem with Mr. Ross and the NFL making upgrades to the stadium, as long as they are going to pay for these upgrades and they don't expect the citizens of Miami Dade County to contribute one cent to these upgrades.
     
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  16. Lab3003

    Lab3003 Golden era

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    It's a poorly constructed stadium. I go to every Miami Hurricanes game, and I can absolutely say that aside from the amenities, the view of the action in the orange bowl was better.
     
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  17. jw3102

    jw3102 season ticket holder

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    I will certainly agree that the present stadium is not as intimate as the old Orange Bowl. This was done on purpose when Joe Robbie had the stadium constructed because he always intended for it to be a multi-purpose stadium for football and baseball.

    My problem is with the NFL trying to force Miami taxpayers to pay for upgrades if we want another Super Bowl. Personally I feel the NFL and Mr. Ross can pay for these upgrades or they can just play the Super bowl game somewhere else every year.

    I loved the atmosphere of the old Orange Bowl and I missed it when Joe Robbie stadium first opened. Joe Robbie stadium is just fine with me right now and once the Dolphins and Hurricanes start winning again and fans start showing up for the games, all this concern about being too far from the action will cease to be a problem. Fans want to see winning football teams and as was shown by the fans during the championship years of the Dolphins and the Hurricanes at the Orange Bowl. They don't care about the bad seats or broken down toilets when you are winning. The stadium only becomes an issue when you are losing football games.

    If Ross, and Ireland fix the football team, Dee won't have to be worried about the NFL initiated problems with the stadium.
     
  18. PhinsRDbest

    PhinsRDbest Transform and Transcend

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    Must have Aquariums!!!:shifty:








    But honestly, add the seats to move fans closer and bring back Flipper the Dolphins to kick field goals!
     
  19. VanDolPhan

    VanDolPhan Club member Club Member

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    How much have the taxpayers put in so far? Compared to most other NFL cities I think Miami's taxpayers have gotten a pretty darn good deal over the years. Joe Robbie was privately financed I do believe another $250 million has been spent privately (not 100% sure on that figure though) on upgrading the stadium since the early 90's.

    Honestly I'd have to see what kind of money they'd be asking for but if it's fairly low and keeps them from looking for a brand new stadium for another 15 years....it'd probably make more financial sense then ending up in a Vikings like situation.

    Edit: Actually even if taxpayers kick in a little....this looks like Miami is more or less gearing up to hit the NFL's new G4 financing fund from the new collective bargaining agreement.

     
  20. PSG

    PSG Clear Eyes. Full Hearts.

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    I'm nor engineer, but seem like that would be impossible without tearing the whole thing down.
     
  21. PSG

    PSG Clear Eyes. Full Hearts.

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    But South Florida also has a sh*tty stadium.
     
  22. GreysonWinfield

    GreysonWinfield Release The Hounds

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    Thats why engineers are engineers. People said the Hoover Dam was impossible.
     
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  23. PSG

    PSG Clear Eyes. Full Hearts.

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    I suppose. Still don't see how you can move the stadium 70-80 feet.
    We'll see I guess. Should be interesting.
     
  24. Frumundah Finnatic

    Frumundah Finnatic U Mad Miami?

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    But he's fine having a Superbowl in London, where no one cares about the sport, where it is notoriously dreary(and he thinks it rains alot over here LOL).

    2 words:
    Giant.
    Magnet.
     
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  25. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I mean in the sense of disadvantages competitively...Yup your right, Sun life is like going to a tea party compared to the orange bowl..as far as the rest of your post, you need to reread the first paragraph of the original thread..Obviously, your in the minority now..

    "Adding seats will dramatically help the energy and feeling and excitement in the stadium. It's also a challenge when you've got the stands so far away from the field, and we want to rectify that."

    Anyways..Damn this is great news, lets hope the NFL will help fund, Maybe Ross and the NFL can split it...I mean if he wants to keep the place another 25 years that this is a must.
     
  26. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I believe their thought process is adding seats, not restructuring, don't think you can make structure changes for 250 mill..
     
  27. PSG

    PSG Clear Eyes. Full Hearts.

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    Still not sure how that's possible without restructuring. Have they ever said exactly how they plan on doing it?
     
  28. PhinsRDbest

    PhinsRDbest Transform and Transcend

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    Any Idea where the water slide is going to go? Next to the touchdown sculpture maybe? Also why not put a Pirate ship in as well.
     
  29. PhinsRDbest

    PhinsRDbest Transform and Transcend

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    The only restructuring I could see would be removing the seats from the lower bowl then altering the angle to accommodate more seating down to the field. So basically adding concrete to the existing(I'm not in construction so not sure how complicated that would). Then re-install the seats.
     
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  30. PhinGeneral

    PhinGeneral PC Texas A&M, Bro Club Member

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    They might be able to lower the playing field a little which would allow for extending the rows while keeping the same basic incline of the lower bowl. The problem there is that it still doesn't make the upper deck any closer.

    But if you look closely at the design for improving the stadium that they unhatched a few years ago, it appears as if the majority of seats are to be added to the lower bowl on one side, and the field would actually be shifted a little closer to the opposite side. This would make one side quite a bit closer, and the added seats at the bottom of the other side would bring them fairly closer, but unless they have some engineering plans for the upper deck that side would be even further away than it is now.
     
  31. smahtaz

    smahtaz Pimpin Ain't Easy

  32. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    not specifically to my knowledge..I don't think they can just add 3500 seats without some sort of restructuring no?? if they just put rows of seating attached in front of the existing ones, those rows would have no sight line to the field, they would be too parallell?
     
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  33. PhinsRDbest

    PhinsRDbest Transform and Transcend

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    Not sure how exact or what it means. But using a protractor and the view from your seat of the stadium, it looks as though the angle of the lower bowl orange seats is 20 degrees. Probably not exact because of the perspective. Did the same thing with Arrow head stadium and it's angle of it's lower bowl is 25 degrees, but it probably has different dimensions so FWIW. Using the eye ball test it, if they kept the same wall height, and brought the seats up to the back of the benches they would need to change to overall angle of the lower orange bowl to between 10-15 degrees. I think the greater the angle the better the view. So it may be better to add the blue club seats to the lower bowl because if they took that angle it looks as though it would be perfect. Also that wall is pretty high so they can afford to take away some inches to a few feet.

    http://www.seats3d.com/nfl/miami_dolphins/#/p_3_1/


     
  34. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    That's the only thing that would changes is the angle.

    The ground is what it is. The wall that the lower bowl is butt up to, is what it is. The only thing moving is the point at which the first row of seats gets to the field. that will "stretch" out the angle.
     
  35. Muck

    Muck Throwback Uniform Crusader Retired Administrator

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    If they add seats down low -- and they should -- they need to do like Armando suggested and cover up some upper deck sections with a tarp like the Jags did.

    We already have problems selling out one of the largest stadiums in the league in a down economy. We don't need to add capacity. That's the quickest way to offset in the short term.

    I think some of the end zone corners would suffice.
     
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  36. Dolphins1Beatles

    Dolphins1Beatles Ziggy Stardust

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    It's not about the weather, it's all about the stadium and the atmosphere the committee builds around the stadium. The NJ stadium is state of the art. Plus, it would be cool to see a snowy Super Bowl. Miami will get another super bowl, just not once every 5 years. Especially now since Indianapolis has been getting rave reviews from everyone there.

    As for this article, they didn't say they were moving the seats that close to the benches (like the Orange Bowl), right? That's just what the writer wants?

    When they add the lower seats closer to the field, they can just tarp the corners up top. Or, if they get Peyton Manning, they won't have to. But other than that, they will need to tarp some up top.
     
  37. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    If they did end up renovating the stadium like in the drawings, wouldn't the amount of seating stay relatively the same, or even decrease a little? Just looking at it, you'd be eliminating a nice chunk of the upper bowl with scoreboards in 4 corners. Even with adding seats to the lower bowl, there would appear to be a good bit of give and take with the seats.
     
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  38. PhinsRDbest

    PhinsRDbest Transform and Transcend

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    I'd rather have more scoreboards than tarps, they just look really tacky IMO.
     
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  39. Ozzy

    Ozzy Premium Member Luxury Box

    This is nothing but a plot to try and get the SB back. I could give a damn if they ever host a SB again. It's the NFL's loss, and the hotels and eateries in the surrounding area, not us locals.

    It will not help the team win any games. In fact, unless the team improves with better players, all it will do is create less noise or more seats for the opponents fans to sit in.

    Adding 3500 seats is easy. Adding 10,000 to the lower bowl while bring everything closer is not and that's what creates a football atmosphere for the fans to enjoy. The final seating amount should be around 70,000 tops and they want to add more? Stupid comes to mind...
     
  40. smahtaz

    smahtaz Pimpin Ain't Easy

    The current capacity of Sun Life Stadium is 75,192 (7th) If they eliminate the upper deck corners with the video screens it should decrease capacity by at least 6,000 seats. If they add back 1000 or so seats in the lower bowl, the capacity of the stadium would be about average (15th).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_National_Football_League_stadiums
     

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