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Miami Dolphins may seek tax to fix stadium
BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN AND DOUGLAS HANKS
mhaggman@miamiherald.com
Are cash-strapped taxpayers willing to spend millions to keep Dolphin Stadium as the Super Bowl's favorite home?
Only months after Miami-Dade commissioners agreed to borrow $490 million for a new Florida Marlins baseball stadium, local leaders and the Miami Dolphins are contemplating a push to seek public money to help fund $250 million in renovations to the football venue.
NFL executives laid the groundwork for the move in recent months, saying the Super Bowl may not return to South Florida unless a host of improvements are made to the Miami Gardens facility.
The changes include enclosing a portion of the stadium to avoid the debacle of South Florida's last Super Bowl, when a rare February deluge drenched spectators at the 2007 NFL championship.
The stadium's lighting also would get an upgrade, as would the lower bowl, allowing spectators to sit closer to the sidelines.
PREFERRED USE
Using public dollars to renovate the stadium ``needs to be debated and needs to be on the table,'' said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee. ``Given the economy, hosting Pro Bowls and Super Bowls are fantastic. These are big money generators for the community.''
The Dolphins have not made a formal proposal, and team CEO Mike Dee said Tuesday it was too early to attach a price tag or funding source for the renovations.
``It would be well premature to speculate how it gets paid for, who pays for it, what it costs,'' Dee said. ``We're going to see if there is an appetite in this community . . . to try and get this done.''
But a private push for a tax-funded stadium redo has gained enough steam in recent weeks that Miami-Dade's tourism bureau adopted a resolution urging county commissioners to put the Miami Beach Convention Center first in line for any hotel taxes that might go to the Dolphins, said county tourism director William Talbert.
Broward's tourism director also was cool to the idea of spending hotel taxes on a football stadium, saying a proposed headquarters hotel for the county's convention center would attract more tourists.
``I relish and covet Super Bowls,'' said Nicki Grossman, Broward County's tourism director. ``But when tasked with saying `Super Bowl or convention-center hotel?' I am far warmer to the hotel.''
The proposed stadium renovations would cost about $250 million, said Grossman, who sits on the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee. Though the stadium sits in Miami-Dade, project supporters would ask Broward and Palm Beach counties to aid the renovations too, she said.
The prospect of using tax dollars to renovate a privately owned facility is sure to spark debate.
Dolphins or Host Committee officials are expected to lay out their ideas for changes to the stadium on Thursday at a Host Committee meeting at the stadium, Barreto said.
`A GOOD USE OF MONEY'
``I believe it would be a good use of public money,'' said Bruce Jay Colan, a Miami lawyer and Super Bowl host committee board member. ``If not, we will get to a point where we won't get them because we can't compete.''
Colan added that public dollars must also go to convention center upgrades and can't come from the general fund.
Tourism officials question spending hotel taxes to attract a game several times a decade instead of investing in local convention centers that attract visitors year round. Hotel taxes subsidize convention centers, and competition for those dollars has grown amid a severe lodging downturn.
Barreto said the plan wouldn't necessarily rely on hotel taxes.
``There could potentially be a combination of things,'' he said. ``I think it could be a combination with state of Florida, with Miami-Dade, and creating a special taxing district.''
Jorge Gonzalez, city manager of Miami Beach, the region's most popular tourist destination, said he was surprised by the idea of seeking public money for the stadium.
``It's surprising to me that so soon after this community debated the issue of baseball and is building a new stadium, that now the football stadium would be standing in line.''
A push for pumping tax dollars into the Dolphins' stadium would touch on a perennial debate in sports: How much is a Super Bowl really worth?
Organizers of South Florida's Super Bowls say the game brought $463 million to the economy when it was last here in 2007, but some academics call that figure NFL hype.
Philip Porter, an economics professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, said a Super Bowl amounts to a fiscal blip for large economies. That's particularly true for popular winter tourism destinations like South Florida, which can count on packed hotels in February even without a Super Bowl.
``If you wanted economic impact, you'd do a lot better taking the money you would spend on a stadium and drop it out of a helicopter,'' he said.
Governments throughout the country have used tax dollars to build gleaming new stadiums for hometown teams. NFL executives cited those new venues in recent remarks to South Florida audiences, warning that an upgraded stadium is needed for South Florida to compete for future Super Bowls.
FUTURE OF THE GAME
When Super Bowl XLIV arrives on Feb. 7, it will make South Florida the top Super Bowl host in history with 10 championship games.
That raises a question: If the new upgrades do not follow, will the NFL really ditch its favorite Super Bowl spot at a stadium that already underwent a $200 million renovation?
Barreto said he met Saturday with Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell -- who said stadium upgrades are necessary.
``I think we need to take a hard look at the message the commissioner of the NFL is sending this community and understand the ramifications of that message,'' he said. ``Based on my conversations with him, he seems to be pretty firm.''
BY MATTHEW HAGGMAN AND DOUGLAS HANKS
mhaggman@miamiherald.com
Are cash-strapped taxpayers willing to spend millions to keep Dolphin Stadium as the Super Bowl's favorite home?
Only months after Miami-Dade commissioners agreed to borrow $490 million for a new Florida Marlins baseball stadium, local leaders and the Miami Dolphins are contemplating a push to seek public money to help fund $250 million in renovations to the football venue.
NFL executives laid the groundwork for the move in recent months, saying the Super Bowl may not return to South Florida unless a host of improvements are made to the Miami Gardens facility.
The changes include enclosing a portion of the stadium to avoid the debacle of South Florida's last Super Bowl, when a rare February deluge drenched spectators at the 2007 NFL championship.
The stadium's lighting also would get an upgrade, as would the lower bowl, allowing spectators to sit closer to the sidelines.
PREFERRED USE
Using public dollars to renovate the stadium ``needs to be debated and needs to be on the table,'' said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee. ``Given the economy, hosting Pro Bowls and Super Bowls are fantastic. These are big money generators for the community.''
The Dolphins have not made a formal proposal, and team CEO Mike Dee said Tuesday it was too early to attach a price tag or funding source for the renovations.
``It would be well premature to speculate how it gets paid for, who pays for it, what it costs,'' Dee said. ``We're going to see if there is an appetite in this community . . . to try and get this done.''
But a private push for a tax-funded stadium redo has gained enough steam in recent weeks that Miami-Dade's tourism bureau adopted a resolution urging county commissioners to put the Miami Beach Convention Center first in line for any hotel taxes that might go to the Dolphins, said county tourism director William Talbert.
Broward's tourism director also was cool to the idea of spending hotel taxes on a football stadium, saying a proposed headquarters hotel for the county's convention center would attract more tourists.
``I relish and covet Super Bowls,'' said Nicki Grossman, Broward County's tourism director. ``But when tasked with saying `Super Bowl or convention-center hotel?' I am far warmer to the hotel.''
The proposed stadium renovations would cost about $250 million, said Grossman, who sits on the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee. Though the stadium sits in Miami-Dade, project supporters would ask Broward and Palm Beach counties to aid the renovations too, she said.
The prospect of using tax dollars to renovate a privately owned facility is sure to spark debate.
Dolphins or Host Committee officials are expected to lay out their ideas for changes to the stadium on Thursday at a Host Committee meeting at the stadium, Barreto said.
`A GOOD USE OF MONEY'
``I believe it would be a good use of public money,'' said Bruce Jay Colan, a Miami lawyer and Super Bowl host committee board member. ``If not, we will get to a point where we won't get them because we can't compete.''
Colan added that public dollars must also go to convention center upgrades and can't come from the general fund.
Tourism officials question spending hotel taxes to attract a game several times a decade instead of investing in local convention centers that attract visitors year round. Hotel taxes subsidize convention centers, and competition for those dollars has grown amid a severe lodging downturn.
Barreto said the plan wouldn't necessarily rely on hotel taxes.
``There could potentially be a combination of things,'' he said. ``I think it could be a combination with state of Florida, with Miami-Dade, and creating a special taxing district.''
Jorge Gonzalez, city manager of Miami Beach, the region's most popular tourist destination, said he was surprised by the idea of seeking public money for the stadium.
``It's surprising to me that so soon after this community debated the issue of baseball and is building a new stadium, that now the football stadium would be standing in line.''
A push for pumping tax dollars into the Dolphins' stadium would touch on a perennial debate in sports: How much is a Super Bowl really worth?
Organizers of South Florida's Super Bowls say the game brought $463 million to the economy when it was last here in 2007, but some academics call that figure NFL hype.
Philip Porter, an economics professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, said a Super Bowl amounts to a fiscal blip for large economies. That's particularly true for popular winter tourism destinations like South Florida, which can count on packed hotels in February even without a Super Bowl.
``If you wanted economic impact, you'd do a lot better taking the money you would spend on a stadium and drop it out of a helicopter,'' he said.
Governments throughout the country have used tax dollars to build gleaming new stadiums for hometown teams. NFL executives cited those new venues in recent remarks to South Florida audiences, warning that an upgraded stadium is needed for South Florida to compete for future Super Bowls.
FUTURE OF THE GAME
When Super Bowl XLIV arrives on Feb. 7, it will make South Florida the top Super Bowl host in history with 10 championship games.
That raises a question: If the new upgrades do not follow, will the NFL really ditch its favorite Super Bowl spot at a stadium that already underwent a $200 million renovation?
Barreto said he met Saturday with Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell -- who said stadium upgrades are necessary.
``I think we need to take a hard look at the message the commissioner of the NFL is sending this community and understand the ramifications of that message,'' he said. ``Based on my conversations with him, he seems to be pretty firm.''
Soooo off the top of my head, including the stuff Wayne started that would be ~$460M to renovate the entire stadium.
STANTON
Serious fun! GET IT IN! 
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