Guy on TV says renovated Dolphins stadium may not be ready until November

File this under “stuff that sports media personalities say when interviewed by other sports media personalities” for now, but former Miami sports talk radio host Hank Goldberg says the Miami Dolphins‘ stadium overhaul is in a “real dicey situation,” with renovations possibly not complete in time for the team’s home opener, and “there are some who say that the stadium may not be ready until November.”

Could we be looking at a potential Hartford Yard Goats situation here, but in the NFL? Dolphins execs have repeatedly insisted that the stadium work is on schedule and will be completed in time for the regular season opener; the team’s stadium website doesn’t offer a construction cam, so we can’t even try to eyeball it ourselves. The fallback plan would presumably be playing Dolphins (and University of Miami) games in Orlando for a month or two, which would be bad since that’s three and a half hours from Miami, but we’ll cross that bridge once this problem is sourced to someone other than “there are some who say.”

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13 comments on “Guy on TV says renovated Dolphins stadium may not be ready until November

  1. Gee, from what is in the pic gallery, it looks like it will be on a timetable, as are the great cathedrals. Which is to say, this may never end *S*.

    Has anyone pointed out that sometime in the next …let’s say 10 years, this could be obsolete? Then there will be a need for an EVEN NEWER Miami stadium? Perhaps with an in-the-sky design, a la what Mark Cuban has talked about.

  2. Driving by it recently there is clearly work to be done. And they moved one of the preseason games to Orlando to “expand the fan base” which is code for “its not ready”.

    There was a material shortage and the weather didn’t cooperate.

    I did hear one person associated with the team say they have some contingency plans in place if the stadium isn’t quite ready.

    It surely won’t be like the yard goats, but they may not have all the amenities ready come September.

    1. Meant to add that Orlando probably won’t be the option for either Miami team. More likely they’d play at FIU or FAU and limit the number of fans.

      1. It’s the Dolphins… would they even have to limit the number of fans???

        1. Yeah…..what John said!!

          Gee….to think when we were younger, one of the more difficult tickets to find in the NFL was for Dolphins games. So much so….for many, the only way they could experience a home game was to either listen to WIOD or….take advantage of the Radio Shack antenna specials for the telly.

          Now fans filling Dolphins/LandShark, etc Stadium early in the season are as rare as seeing working Edsels.

          1. It’s an odd thing, isn’t it?

            The dramatic fall in Dolphin attendance/fans etc hasn’t exactly been “Dodger like” (under McCourt, anyway), but it is serious. Yet not many media folks seem to be picking up on it.

            Thoughts anyone? Is it the (relatively) out of the way new – ok 28 year old new – stadium? The fact that they abandoned their roots around the old Orange bowl? The rise of the Hurricanes? Changing demographics?

            I’ve never lived in Miami, but I always had the feeling that the support the Fish enjoyed was very much local community based. Have those fans been abandoned? Or did the Dolphins just price them out?

          2. All of the above…

            The Orange Bowl was old and rickety….but it was home. And real Miami gans showed up. They rode the good and the bad. But were LOYAL.

            Which was sold for luxury boxes and the burbs. For corporate interests….and the real fan who valued that ticket, which was once affordable. No different than other markets….and that is a shame.

          3. As a one time blogger about the team I would say it’s a combination of things. People live a winner and all the other sports in town have had more success in the last two decades.

            Then there’s poor leadership on the field and with the management, mediocre ownership, price increases, the not so subtle moves to drive away fans for the lucrative corporate sponsors, and the heat / humidity of south Florida.

            The last factor is the evolution of tv that arguably makes the experience better at home, though my sense tells me this is a bigger league wide problem.

            That’s my take on apathy or small numbers of fans going to games.

          4. Dave,

            Agreed…..and the television issue goes back to what was mentioned from here, about WIOD.

            When the Dolphins were winning, that was one of the hardest tickets to get a hold of, not just in the AFC East, but league-wide. Even when the blackouts were lifted, the Orange Bowl was full (in a sense, a better % factor than the Giants or Jets did at home for a while). Along with the fact their management gave a damn.

            Now….the Dolphins will have a somewhat empty Xanadu as a home. As in…..the fans who will show up are the ones with money to burn, but they are and will be in the minority. Even with the novelty factor, unless the team really wins…..they will soon become a studio team. After all…why drive to the county line to see the team lose in an overpriced palace, when one can do so from home. Big screen and cheaper food to watch same to boot.

  3. Miami Hurricanes AD said last night that they have a contingency plan in place, so it has legs. Guessing their plans are to play at FIU, FAU, or a local Pop Warner field, which should easily accommodate their fans for most games.

    1. Why would the Hurricanes need a contingency plan if the Dolphins don’t? It’s football either way, no?

      1. I think the Hurricanes are being more realistic.

        1. The Dolphins game that is being moved to Orlando is vs Atlanta and it is in freaking Week 3 of preseason.

        2. The Hurricanes are supposed to face both Florida Atlantic and Florida A&M at home anyway. The games can be played at the other team’s stadium. But it is going to be tough telling the kids that they have to play Week 6 at Tallahassee which means a similar situation comparable to the 2005 New Orleans Saints season where the Saints played a home game vs the Giants at the other team’s home.

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