Dolphins Cancel Stadium Renovations: Future In Miami Now In Doubt
The Miami Dolphins cancelled stadium renovation plans this past weekend after the Florida House of Representatives didn’t accept their proposal which has many people worried their time in Miami is up.
Dolphins’ CEO Mike Dee addressed the situation and understands changes will have to be made in the near future.
“At some point, somebody’s going to buy the franchise from (Dolphins owner Stephen Ross), and clearly the stadium is the first thing they would need to address,” Dee told CBS Miami.
Florida lawmakers failed to allow the Dolphins to raise their hotel tax to help pay for the $350 million in renovations to Sun Life Stadium. The renovations will have to come sooner than later, and at the moment the state is unwilling to give the team more funds.
If Florida’s stance doesn’t change, the Dolphins may be forced to move out of Miami once the team is sold. Mike Dee noted that the team will not put more money in place to make the renovations happen on their own.
“We opened our books to the county, their experts confirmed that, and at this time we have no intention of investing more,” Dee added in the interview.
The Dolphins’ cancelled stadium renovations has done nothing but bring about concerns of their future to fans around the community as the 2013 season approaches. According to Dee, they have one man to blame, Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford.
“This was about one guy, this was a one guy roadblock,” said Dee. “Something happened late in the process that caused him to change his mind.”
During the meeting on Friday, Weatherford didn’t allow a vote on the proposal that Mike Dee believes made all the difference. Dee had enough supporters to get the proposal passed but the house speaker had no plans of bringing it to a vote.
Now the discussion is over and the Dolphins will have to move on without renovations. Has Miami’s long-time NFL team lost it’s support from the state of Florida after the Dolphins’ cancelled stadium renovations due to insufficient funding?
