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Stadium News

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by dolfan40, Jun 7, 2014.

  1. dolfan40

    dolfan40 Well-Known Member

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    Sun Life Stadium will finally get it's makeover. After two failed attempts it looks like the third time was the charm for Stephen Ross and the Miami Dolphins organization**The Miami Herald is reporting that the Dolphins and Miami-Dade County are close to finalizing a deal which will bring necessary upgrades to Sun-Life Stadium and keep the Dolphins in Miami for many years to come.**The details are simple, Miami Dolphins principal owner Stephen Ross will pay in the ballpark of $400 million out of his own pocket to pay for upgrades for Sun Life Stadium and in return when he hosts a big-event at the stadium*"(ie Super Bowls, College Football Playoff games, Major WWE events, Major International Soccer games...etc)"*the county will in turn pay him a hefty "event fee." The fee for each event will be between $3 million to $5 million.Miami-Dade mayor Carols Gimenez said the team and county "are close to agreeing to a deal." It just needs approval from the County Commission. The "Event Fee" money to be paid to Ross will come from County tourist taxes he stated. Giminez who spent most of Friday with Dolphins officials said he hopes to nail down the agreement sometime this weekend with a vote taking place in a couple weeks. That vote is expected to not be an issue and pass easily.*So, what changes can you expect to be made to the stadium, the biggest change will be a canopy/roof to be added. Not an enclosed roof, think old Cowboys Stadium with a hole in the middle. It will be very similar to that. So the fans are protected by the rain and sun but the field is not covered. There will be new seats added and they will be blue or green not the orange they have now. Also there will be the addition of brand new video screens, lighting system, and sound system. The seats will also be moved much closer to the field which will generate more noise from the fans and create a bigger home field advantage.The other thing this deal does is lock the Dolphins into staying in Miami for many years to come as now there is no threat of the team moving to a different city (ie; Los Angeles.)Construction on the stadium will take approximately 3 years and it's not going to disrupt any Dolphins home-games or any other events at the stadium during that time. The first order of business will be to win the bids of the 2018 College Football Championship game and Super Bowl 53 which will take place in 2019 (although with Atlanta getting a brand new stadium that might be tough to land) or Super Bowl 54 in 2020.Here are some images of what the new and improved Sun Life Stadium will look like...
     
    gunn34 likes this.
  2. Alex13

    Alex13 Tua Time !!! Club Member

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    not sure this is breaking news, this is something we know for months
     
  3. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I think folks should temper their excitement when it comes to thinking the seats are going to be moved closer, the key word is " added", as in they will add a few rows to the lower bowl at the bottom, it's really all they can do..

    Basically our upgrades will be a lot of blue paint, a nice canopy roof, some new screens that are cut into the corners of the upper tier, and some amenities..
     
  4. FinNasty

    FinNasty Alabama don’t want this... Staff Member Club Member

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    ...and adding more seats to the lower bowl... so fans aren't 30 yards away from the field. And by adding video screens to the upper area, we are removing a % of the seats in the upper bowl while adding seats in the lower bowl... which is moving fans closer.

    Just b/c it isn't what you want, doesn't mean it's insignificant DJ. It's still impactful in that regard.


    But more than anything... I can't wait for the roof. The sun makes games unbarable and unenjoyable....
     
    Mile High Fin and ASOT like this.
  5. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I'm not a big fan of the plan, but if it keeps the team in South Florida and brings major events to the stadium, putting more cash into the team's pockets, then its a good thing.
     
    Coral Reefer likes this.
  6. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    If they plan on relocating those seats to the lower bowl, sure I would be happier, but it's going to take restructuring the lower bowl in the four corners of the endzones, I don't think that's their plan..no one has been real specific as to the details that pertain to moving seats closer..a lot of fluff talk but nothing concrete (pun intended)

    If they don't add and reconfigure the concrete it's simply makup makeover..

    If were just talking about a home field advantage, It's a waste of 400 mill no matter how you break it down, especially when they could easily make their money back and give two rich programs their identity back, and all the good stuff that comes with that, just by doubling up the cost..

    This is all about appeasing the suits so we can lure the big events, which is understandable, is completely needed, and makes financial sense relative to the money they have been losing as is.
     
  7. Coral Reefer

    Coral Reefer Premium Member

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    Back in Miami
    Agree.

    Not a fan either.
    Second time they are putting lipstick on a pig.
    They'll be up to over 600 million in improvements on an old hag now.

    That said, a new stadium isn't possible so this will be better than what it is now.

    I'm just thankful for NO DOME. Hate those things with a passion.
     
  8. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    absolutely agree on the canopy, 1 o'clock start times for fans in those seats saps their energy, leaves the sitting on their asses sweating profusely in Miami heat, understandably so..the canopy will also allow fans to stay seated even if it drizzles..too many times at first sight of rain you see the fans scatter to the hallways like rats, it's ridiculous..

    I would just like to see the owner be smart about his investment, and to me, this isn't a smart investment, not when you have a blueprint right in front if your eyes, a multi million dollar cash accruing blueprint that also allows you a competitive advantage.
     
  9. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Exactly where I'm at..

    Just very frustrating the lack of vision, especially considering our two programs, and their history when it comes to the venue.
     
  10. FinNasty

    FinNasty Alabama don’t want this... Staff Member Club Member

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    After we finish the renovations... less fans will be up top and more fans will be down below... closer to the field.

    That helps home field advantage...
     
  11. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    If they plan on restructuring the lower bowl, which is something I have not seen in print or elocuted by anyone..
     
  12. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Hey Nasty, I've seen some images where there is something happening with the endzones and the pitch, can you post those images..

    I wish, wish, they would call the architect who did soldier fields renovations, they only spent 400 mill and they moved the whole thing closer to the field..absolutely brilliant.
     
    gunn34 likes this.
  13. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I actually LOVE retractable domes, especially in cold climates. I don't think that retrofitting JRS with a dome was ever feasable though, even though it was talked about several years ago.
     
  14. FinNasty

    FinNasty Alabama don’t want this... Staff Member Club Member

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    It's still more fans in the lower bowl, and less in the upper bowl, with so that's putting a larger % of the fans closer... b/c when there's a full house, less fans can be up top and far away and more are down low and close.

    And with every row they add to the lower bowl, my REAL ROUGH estimation is around 400 extra fans (18 sections at guessing 20 seats per row per section plus the corners getting a boost like secs 107, 121, 141, and 149). Based off that, just 5 rows is an extra 2,000 fans that are added to the lower bowl that are closer than we've ever had fans before.

    While its not completely moving everything in with new concrete, I think that's still pretty impactful...
     
  15. jw3102

    jw3102 season ticket holder

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    When I lived in South Florida, I always opposed taxpayers paying for any of the renovations. I am happy to see that Ross is willing to spend the four hundred million dollars to upgrade the stadium. I have no problem with the county paying the Dolphin organization a percentage of the money earned for bringing large sporting events to South Florida to be held in the renovated stadium. I think this is fair to Ross and the taxpayers.

    I attended hundreds of games in Sun Life stadium over the years and I never had a problem with the stadium. Obviously some fans did, as well as the NFL, since they refused to hold any future Super Bowls in South Florida without these renovations.

    Renovations or not, the only thing which will bring the crowds back is a consistent winner. So Ross needs to do everything in his power to provide the fans of South Florida with a winning product on the field. In South Florida you can have a brand new stadium and fans will still stay home if the team isn't winning. Hopefully Ross will put as much effort into building a winning team as he has put into his efforts to renovate the stadium.
     
    ASOT likes this.
  16. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Wonder if the Clippers sale influenced this.
     
  17. WhiteIbanez

    WhiteIbanez Megamediocremaniacal

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    Its not all about concrete for those who don't understand the demo. Do you guys understand the reinforcing with the steel and mesh and rebar?
    You can't just move seats folks.
     
  18. WhiteIbanez

    WhiteIbanez Megamediocremaniacal

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    You would never call an architect to do that. No worries Deej but you are lost when it comes to construction man.
     
  19. NolePhin15

    NolePhin15 Well-Known Member

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    How much is Ross worth? $400 million from his pocket? Got dayum. RESPECT.
     
  20. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    I wonder how much the canopy is going to play into volume of crowd noise. It would have to increase it pretty significantly I would think.
     
  21. ASOT

    ASOT New Member

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    Well we still need to put a winning product onto the field which we haven't done in 5 seasons and only twice in 10 years. That's abysmal and a great deal of the reason you see empty seats on Sunday's.
     
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  22. ASOT

    ASOT New Member

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    Somewhere between $5-6 billion.
     
  23. Marino1384

    Marino1384 Member

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    Yeah thats nuts, his net worth is 5.7 billion. He made his money in real estate and this is no different. He knows how much bringing a superbowl to miami will generate and so far he's made decent personal decisions to make the team better, atleast on paper that is. Giving 1/10th of your money is no joke. Lucky to have an owner that wants to put us in the right direction. The only thing i question is why not build a new stadium? If hes giving 400 million id hope a city as big as miami could match and make it atleast 800 million. Thats enough to build a good stadium. Lucus oil was built for 720 million. It wont be state of the art but still will be better than upgrading an old stadium that can only have so much done to it.
     
  24. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    yes, I'm aware.
     
  25. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I respect him for what he's doing, however, with all due respect, he's making an extremely bad monetary investment and is missing out on one of the most concrete hi level investment opportunities that will ever cross the table, especially considering he's willing to drop 400 mill of his own, the vision just isn't there by him, nor his advisors, the city of miami, or the university of Miami.
     
  26. VanDolPhan

    VanDolPhan Club member Club Member

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    My only issue is where does this land the teams overall debt level? That was a concern before and this can't help.
     
  27. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Very true but I understand what needs to be done, and what they did in Chicago as far as renovations go was brilliant..I'm sure that can't be replicated at sunlife,I get it that the foundation isn't condusive to anything but bells and whistles.
     
  28. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I'm fine with the location of the stadium, to avoid extra costs in purchasing new land, just demolish sunlife a build a new right there.
     
  29. JDelenne

    JDelenne Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Anyone have an idea about how many Major Events are held at Sun Life each year?
     
  30. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Orange bowl..the occasional wwe event..soccer event

    The goal is to get in the rotation for the Super Bowl and the college football playoff series, and the World Cup if it comes to America, those three things ain't happening when you have the competition that there is out there..

    From that perspective the renovations will do the job and big events will want to come here, however as far as getting a competitive advantage, it aint happening.
     
  31. Aquafin

    Aquafin New Member

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    I hope if they add on to the stadium they don't come back 5 years later and want to do more renovations. I would rather build a new and improved stadium then have the nfl come back and say you need to do more to upgrade the stadium. yea I know that wont happen but if Miami wants to host another super bowl building a new stadium would be the route to go.
     
  32. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    The mayor has had language written in the contract the Ross will have to continue to make the upgrades necessary that keep it competitive.

    For real when it's said and done, a whole new building could of been built, they did 250 mill a decade ago, 400 mill coming up..

    Just keep dumping money into the chemo.
     
  33. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    There's certainly plenty of room. Other teams have built new stadiums right next door and then demolished the old one. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati spring to mind. With these additions though, I doubt we see a new field while Ross is owner. It's a band aid until someone else comes along in the future.
     
  34. ASOT

    ASOT New Member

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    Actually I don't think it's a bad investment for him, as I don't think he's in this for the long haul. I think if a bid came across his desk for $ 1.4 billion right now, he'd take it. I think last year sapped a lot of the fire in Ross. The stadium issue, then bullygate, then coming to the realization he'd been a horse's *** for keeping Ireland around for at least 2 years too long, and then the embarrassingly long GM search - I believe if he could Ross would bow out.
     
  35. ASOT

    ASOT New Member

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    I agree. I think Ross is stuck with the lemon. The next owner is probably just going to buy JUST the team, and then within a year or two demand a new stadium or they move to LA.....just my opinion.
     
  36. MikeHoncho

    MikeHoncho -=| Censored |=-

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    This makes sense, and I'm on-board with this.
     
  37. gunn34

    gunn34 I miss Don & Dan

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    Where are the pictures?
     
  38. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I haven't seen any new ones in a long time. I'm hoping they've come up with something better than the ugly "tent poles" at the 4 corners of the stadium.
     
  39. Fin D

    Fin D Sigh

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    Thank god.

    Someone call Ross and tell him he can move forward now. Lmeister gives it a thumbs up.
     
  40. Vertical Limit

    Vertical Limit Senior Member

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    Last year his stadium got him two major bowl games, that would be 10 million right there in his pocket, and there's other major events that goes down on his stadium. He will get somewhere around 70% of what he's investing in renovations in 6-7 years of events.
     

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