Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross got a seven figure check from Miami-Dade County following their successful bid for Super Bowl 54.
Several years ago, voters and politicians throughout Miami yelled from the top of their lungs that they wanted no part in using tax payer money to improve what was then called Sun Life Stadium (in part thanks to the fiasco that got the Miami Marlins their new ballpark by lying to the city and county).
Now, Miami-Dade County is rewarding Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross for spending his own money (between $450 and $500 million) to make “New Miami Stadium” look nothing like the 29-year-old structure did just two years ago.
After landing Super Bowl LIV for the 2019 season, the county is making good on a deal that gives Ross and the Dolphins a check for the stadium hosting big events, according to NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk:
"The city will pay them $4 million for bringing the Super Bowl, and there are bonuses for other big events, which could pay the team up to $5 million a year.For instance, they can also make $3 million for a World Cup semi-final or a national college-football championship, $2 million for a college playoff game, and $750,000 for international soccer matches or other events that draw 55,000 to the stadium."
The stadium sits in the city limits of Miami Gardens (one of the many cities that was incorporated when what was called Dade County adopted the name Miami in 2003, allowing suburbs to become their own cities) and opened in 1987 completely paid for by former Dolphins owner Joe Robbie.
It has hosted four prior Super Bowls as well as the annual Orange Bowl game and has been the site of five game that help decide college football’s national title.
No word on if the deal includes the team and Ross paying the county back money for events that draw less than 55,000…like most games involving the Dolphins when they aren’t playing the New England Patriots or college football’s Miami Hurricanes (who also use the stadium) when they aren’t playing the Florida State Seminoles.
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