January 11, 2005
Pro Player now Dolphins Stadium
Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga, belatedly realizing that allowing your stadium to be named after a defunct clothing manufacturer isn't exactly the smartest business move, has announced that Pro Player Stadium will be renamed Dolphins Stadium in the coming months. Before you get too excited at the prospect of a sports stadium actually ditching its corporate name, this is probably only an interim move while Huizenga looks for a new naming-rights sponsor that can actually pay its naming-rights fees, though he insists that "we want the Dolphins name to be in the forefront." (You're still welcome, though, to make jokes about how no one was going to mistake the Dolphins for pro players anyhow.)
Huizenga further added that he has plans to spend about $425 million in his own money to remodel and add a roof to the stadium. Much of the remodeling would have to wait until the Marlins are out of the stadium, something Huizenga said he expects to happen "in the next, I'm guessing now, let's say three years" - which is a pretty optimistic timetable, considering that much of the $420 million estimated price tag is still unaccounted for, and that many observers think that the retractable-roofed baseball stadium the team wants will ultimately cost much more.
Marlins president David "Okay, how about this final deadline?" Samson, meanwhile, rattled his noisiest saber yet on the subject of moving the team if a stadium deal isn't approved, saying if the Florida legislature doesn't approve $30 million in state stadium funding soon, "there is no stadium in South Florida and the team would look for other options, presumably out of South Florida." Isn't this where we came in?
How odd that a stadium name isn't a coporate shill. I wonder how long this will last? I imagine till the rennovations are completed? Speaking of the rennovations, what exactly will be rennovated. In an article a while ago they said that the stadium wants to host soccer and cricket games when baseball Marlins are gone. Do you think they might be pursuing a MLS team or just want the International Friendlies or maybe a Gold Cup Tournament ?
Posted by Bertell Ollman on January 11, 2005 04:18 PM