Roger Goodell has made it clear previously that if the city of Miami wants to host another Super Bowl, Sun Life Stadium will need to undergo some serious renovations.
On Monday Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross announced that he’s ready to flip the majority of the bill for the costs of improvements to the stadium. By making these improvements, Sun Life Stadium will become a direct competitor for hosting future Super Bowls, with the big prize being Super Bowl L, the 50th Anniversary of the Super Bowl.
“Our intention is to make Sun Life Stadium a world-class facility that is competition-ready for Super Bowls, college football championships, and global soccer events, as well as providing a much better environment to watch the Dolphins, Hurricanes and Orange Bowl every year,” Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said in a statement. “I think our planned modernization will maintain the special outdoor flavor of Miami, while giving us the look of the best stadiums around the world.”
Ross has said in his statement that the private funds for the stadium would cover the majority of the construction costs while creating more than 4,000 local jobs in South Florida.
“I bought this team because I love this town. I went to high school here and built much of my business here,” said Ross. “Like most Miamians, I believe no other community in America represents a better destination for blockbuster events. My goal is to secure the future of Miami-Dade and the Dolphins so we can remain a global competitor for sports and entertainment for at least another 25 years. That’s why I’m willing to make the initial and most substantial investment in this project.”
The modernization plan of the stadium would make the facility capable of hosting College Championships, the Pan Am Games, Professional Soccer and other premiere sporting and
entertainment events in addition to hosting the Super Bowl and Dolphins game.
Ross states the plan will not propose a tax increase for Miami residents.
However, contrary to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross stating there won’t be tax increase, the Miami Herald reports that the Dolphins are planning to ask the State of Florida and local governments to kick in some of the money for the stadium upgrades which are projected to be $400 million.
There is just one small problem with that logic. Last year the Miami Marlins got a brand new baseball stadium of their own in what was viewed as sweetheart of deal, a deal that according to public opinion polls, most South Florida residents viewed it as major expensive mistake. The Florida State Senator told the Miami Herald that there is a slim-none-and none-at-all chance that the Dolphins will be able to get a Stadium upgrade deal that is even close to what the Marlins received.
One way or another, no matter how much the Dolphins front, there will be public money of some sort for the upgrade. An upgrade that Super Bowl Host Committee Chairman Rodney Barreto says the city of Miami deserves.
“A world-class community deserves world-class facilities,” said Barreto. “We are fortunate to have a person like Steve Ross who is willing to invest to help ensure the future of big events for Miami.”
The proposed upgrades will include more comfortable seats, new seating closer to the field, State-of-the-Art HD video screens, an open-air canopy that will shield fans from the elements while preserving the outdoor natural grass playing surface, HD sports lighting, modern escalators and elevators for fan transportation and updated kitchens for better concessions options.
The stadium will also be returned to the original configuration when it was known as Joe Robbie Stadium, before making modifications to accommodate baseball for the Florida Marlins. By doing this not only will the stadium be reverted back to a field strictly for football but the configurations will give the fans better sightlines from every seat in the house.
Hopefully the upgrades will provide Dolphins fans with more incentive to fill those empty orange seats. But if they cannot get the South Florida residents with a mad taste in their mouth from the actions of the Miami Marlins on and off the baseball diamond to support this then Stephen Ross will have a major uphill battle to get this done before the site for Super Bowl L is announced.
