An interesting piece in here is that the county commission approved it. So the county legislature approves it, but the state legislature unanimously doesn't. Something doesn't match up.
However you come down on the issue there's no denying Ross and Dee are handling the aftermath poorly. Trying to do a little face saving PR is one thing, but this type of rhetoric isn't helpful. I realize they want to place all the blame at the feet of Weatherford, but saying stuff like "the future looks bleak" is just way over the top.
The Dolphins "gambit" was to make every concession the Mayor of Miami-Dade requested. I'm not sure what more exactly you believe they will do in one year from now. The only thing that was rammed through was the unprecedented contingencies and stipulations the Dolphins were being held to.
The county has already approved the deal. If it's as great as you say it is, why wouldn't the same deal be good next year or in 2015? What happened here is the Dolphins wanted a quick process that they could get through without a lot of questions or time for organzied opposition to foment. Hence, the arbitrary Super Bowl 50 deadline. The Super Bowl will be played every year for decades to come. There is plenty of time for Miami to get more of them. Super Bowl 50, aside from the cool factor, is no more financially valuable than 52,53, or 60 or 65. And if Ross is truly interested in owning the team until death, then he presumably has quite a few more years as well to get this done. So blowing up the deal after a relatively minor setback in the grand scheme of things doesn't make much sense. What I suspect is happening is that the Dolphins know that the more scrutiny the deal gets over time people will see that it's an interest free loan that will never be paid back, based on the promise of getting things we mostly already get.
More scrutiny? I'm sorry, but there wasn't anything ambiguous or confusing about the text of the bill. If you need more than 30 days to read that, you have much more serious issues. In regards to your unfounded fear that Stephen Ross is out to screw you, I would suggest reading everything the Mayor has had to say on the topic. The Miami legislature literally found every possible avenue they could get screwed, and put in provisions to prevent it.
The deal will likely change. It's not going to be the same deal because Ross already lost 10 million on this deal and without SB50....the revenue that Ross will be realizing will change. As for 50 and 51....the stadium needed to be approved to get those. Houston and SF are already in the pipeline. The earliest SoFLA will see a SB is now 2018. I don't know exactly how long it will take the renovations to take place while simulataneously playing in it, but it looks like 2-3 years if done in phases. So if you want SB 2018...you need to be approved in 2015 before the owners vote I would think. As for 60-65...this deal is Ross' deal. Ross will surely have sold the team by SB60....that owner may not be so keeen on compromise.
I think that if some are going to take the side that Ross is in the wrong for wanting to get partial funding to renovate, then we better not lose out on the next Super Bowl..I think San Jose gets the 50th regardless, it makes sense for them, but the next one, if it comes out that we are not receiving superbowls because truly, we didnt renovate, then some people have some "splaining to do", no one in their right mind could justify that the city isn't losing a lot of money relative to the deal that was presented.
Eventually the ones losing out (the businesses of Miami) will force action. Anyone that believes Stephen Ross is trying to rip off Miami is clueless. Stephen Ross isn't going to see $200M back from putting a canopy over the seats. The county was the one who was going to win off this deal. Hopefully the deal the end up getting is remotely as favorable.
Instead of continuing to tell me and everyone here how great this deal is and how we should be on bended knee to the Dolphins for proposing it, why don't you explain why the deal is less great today then it was yesterday or that it will be tomorrow? What happened yesterday is a minor setback in the grand scheme of things. The hard part weas working out a deal with the county, which they've done to incredible levels of generosity according to you. So, why not go back to the legislature again next year, with the support of the county delegation, who can put pressure on Weatherford to bring the bill to the floor? Why not figure out what mistakes you made in terms of lobbying, or time of submission and work on those issues, instead of sending Dee out on tv to say that there will be no renovations at all and that the future of the team in South Florida is "bleak"?
Oh so it is about revenue? I thought this was just a glorious gift to the county, or so Stringer continues to tell me?
Yes they are hosting the 2014 BCS game, that is a lock, future ones are not. An upgraded stadium makes it much more likely to continue that going forward than a stadium that continues to be passed up by other states/cities/counties putting up public funds to upgrade their facilities.
Don't mistake profit for revenue. If the incoming revenue changes it's going to affect how much is paid out. The numbers aren't going to stay the same if the money coming in isn't the same.
Because The Dolphins made the concessions. They did the heavy lifting. They paid money. They aren't going to do it again. The businesses of Miami-Dade overwhelmingly supported this deal. They are the ones the Miami legislature will have to answer to. Your incessant desire to make this about Stephen Ross is bizarre. This is about all the businesses of Miami-Dade that needed this.
It absolutely is about revenue. For the Miami Dolphins, but even more so for a lot of other businesses of Miami-Dade.
From what I'm reading and understanding, some folks think that Goodell has no ill intentions of taking away superbowls from us, some folks don't think we will lose out on the game for the next 20 years, and some think a world class venue doesn't become part of the equation in the decision making of high end events.. Hey, I'm just going on with what Goodell said, if he was just lying and we get back in the regular rotation, and we get the future college playoff event to come here, then it's all good..in five years, if it becomes obvious we are losing out on events, were gonna be sick that we didnt take the deal?
Can someone explain how a lobbyist hired by Ross on such an important case, be sleazy trying to sell the bill?, how would one be that way in that setting?
Does it really matter if we lose out on events or not when our stadium is coming up on 30 years of age? I'd consider that coming up on the end of its lifecycle. Ross didn't just pull renovating the stadium out of the air. It was being discussed before Ross got here. It will be discussed after he is gone if its not done on his watch. So...if every other stadium is doing private-partnerships with their owners..and the other stadiums in Florida have done the same....1) Where did this hardline from the state of Florida come from and 2) Does the state of Florida have the leverage to change the status quo while still maintaining possession of all of its franchises? Is this the new precedent in Florida or is this just the new precedent for the Miami Dolphins?
I didn't know that lobbyists came in any other flavors aside from sleezy personally. Are there Ned Stark lobbyists?
The hardline came from the deal Jeff Loria got. It was an awful deal for the county. This has caused a myopic view of any public-private partnership, regardless of the actual merits of the deal. Eventually such a myopic view will likely pass. Businesses in the county support a stadium partnership. The elected officials in the county need to generate new economic activity. Its just a matter of it being politically palatable.
man it feels like it keeps going back to the starting line.. Seems like a really cool investment oppurtunity for a city, with low risk, and a commissioner telling you indirectly it would be a good idea.
Seems like emotion got in the way of the best deal to me then. I don't see this good of a deal being thrown at the legislature again.
The Mayor has directly said its a good deal for the county. This is the same Mayor that was elected because of his opposition to what he declared a bad deal with the Marlins.
It depends on how the economy goes. If the economy struggles, that would make Miami-Dade more desperate to get SBs back, and likely would give the Dolphins leverage in the situation. I can guarantee that the owner of Fountainbleu is just as angry right now as Stephen Ross. These partnerships happen because local governments need economic development to point to.
Should we press the issue, it seems like we're adamant in making sure that the public knows this guy is a douchbag, is this gonna become a distraction?
I wouldn't waste too much time pressing it. If anything, I would focus pressing the elected officials of Miami-Dade. They are the ones who have the most at stake, a representative from Pasco County likely doesn't care very much.
PHOENIX — Roger Goodell wouldn't flat out say it, but the NFL's commissioner dropped enough hints on Wednesday to safely conclude South Florida won't be hosting another Super Bowl until Sun Life Stadium gets a significant face lift. "It is important for us to play the game on the best possible stage and the stadiums are getting better and better," Goodell said." He's got to be full of sh&$ on the whole weather thing..why can't he just say that newer stadiums with better facilities will lean the favor..
It's doomed for about a decade considering the next two presumptive Speakers of the Florida House were both opposed to this bill.
If this team starts winning consistently, so that ticket revenue and Dolphins merchandise sales increase and TV time slots get better, the fan base will get solidly behind the team. There will then be popular pressure on the Miami-Dade delegates to support the franchise. If the whole South Florida delegation gets behind the Dolphins in a bloc, opponents from other parts of Florida would open themselves to accusations of provincialism blocking what is good for all of Florida, provided that the bill is not brought up on a short schedule and more respectable lobbyists are hired. Steady does it. What separates the Dolphins from their stadium improvements is three or so seasons of twelve wins.
Personally I don't get the big fuss about having any SB's in Miami. We have plenty of tourists in South Florida at that time of year and I just don't believe a SB brings more of an economic impact to this area than the regular tourist do at that time of year. I hope the Dolphins remain in South Florida for years to come, but I really don't care if another SB is ever held in our area again. They can play them all in Buffalo every year, as far as I am concerned.
You know whats better than having regular tourists? Having regular tourists and SB tourists. Increase in aggregate demand will lead to an increase in price. Increase in prices will result in businesses making more money.
This makes no sense the first time I heard it in this thread...the Super Bowl attracts the fans from the teams that are playing in the game, those 60 to 70 thousand people wouldn't normally be in your city for a week because of exposure.etc etc etc. You also don't seem to get how exposure to the world works...when your living in another country or another city, and you see Miami highlighted for two weeks on your tv because of the tremendous exposure that comes with the game, people will make decisions on their vacations to come to the city..
It may or may not have been a good deal for the county. We will never know because it isn't going to happen. Ross, Dee, and others need to stop crying about something that is irrelevant at this time. Perhaps they can be more concerned with putting a consistent winning product on the field and that will bring more fans into the stadium. The Dolphins filling up the present stadium is what is really important and they will only do this by winning. The fancy covering for the stadium, and the desire to bring SB's and national championship NCAA games to the stadium don't mean a thing if fans continue to stay away from Dolphins games because of their constant losing. No bill to provide taxpayer funding for the Dolphins stadium is going to pass anytime in the near future. In fact I don't know if a bill will ever pass. So deal with it and accept that the Dolphins will be playing in the stadium without renovations for several years to come. No matter how bad some people think the stadium is today, there are far worse stadiums in the NFL at this time. One of these stadiums is the New Orleans Superdome, and I bet they get another SB in the next few years without any major renovations.
Its disheartening how people could believe that increasing demand for Miami as a tourist destination doesn't represent any economic expansion. A shift of the demand curve to the right will always lead to expansion. Its a fundamental tenet of economics.
Miami-Dade business owners will not make money from the Dolphins winning games. As much as you want to make this about Stephen Ross and Mike Dee, its much more about the struggling economy of South Florida.
Here's a breakdown of who gets tickets. http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/super_bowl_xlvi/news/Breakdown_of_Super_Bowl_ticket_distribution_303442
I get the idea of exposure, I just don't think the Super Bowl gives the exposure to the the city, you seem to think it does. I think the South Florida area gets plenty of exposure from various sources and that is why the hotels are full and their are plenty of tourists here in the winter, even if their is no SB in town. I certainly haven't heard anyone complaining about a lack of a SB the last couple of years, yet the hotels have been full and the tourist business has been brisk. I think we just have to agree to disagree on this particular topic. I still agree with you on most issues related to the Dolphins football team.
The economy may be struggling to some degree, but renovations to the stadium is not the answer to this struggling economy. We need far more than temporary construction jobs to bring the economy back to what it was prior to 2007.
Business owners of Miami-Dade disagree with your assessment. The county is already dumping hundreds of millions every year into these types of projects. This isn't any type of un-ordinary request or practice.
