The Bill died today in the state House. The May 14th vote is cancelled. No new Dolphins stadium. No more Super Bowls in Miami. No BCS national championship games in the stadium anymore. A franchise that is losing money as the Fins are just might have taken the death blow!!!

LA Dolphins in a few years? Totally see it happening. Vikings got their new stadium. Bills signed a new lease. Jax is locked up for a long time with their iron clad lease. They are all not going anywhere.

Miami and SD are prime "move" candidates with the California people wanting to bring ANOTHER team to the state instead of moving teams inside the state.

This is a BAD day for this franchise

Fuck the Marlins. Who gives a darn about baseball nowadays anyway? That franchise is pathetic, they're lucky to draw 300 people to their games while the Fins have 60,000 + during bad years. It's embarrassing watching Marlins' highlights (whenever they actually do have one) on ESPN, you can thank Loria for the bad vibes surrounding this whole deal. Lol this is all too funny.

This team is not going anywhere.
They knew they had an uphill battle.
While not the Dolphins ownership fault , the people of Dade & Broward counties have been lied to by the Heat & Marlins ownership to get their new arena & stadium so I would think enough is enough. (Although I am sure Dolphin ownership is not entirely forth coming on this issue)
It was a bad day for this franchise when Marino was forced out , when Shula was fired , when the Robbie family sold & Ross bought , when JJ took over , when we got thumped by the Jaguars in Marinos last game.
I dont think this franchise is losing money.
This franchise can over come this. They seem to have finally gotten serious about putting a winning team in place. That should be the priority.

The Dolphins anywhere else but Miami would not seem right, and Ross has said he would not move the Dolphins.

But this is a different world today. And yes, the whole fiasco known as the now Miami Marlins made this very hard for the Dolphins to get pushed thru.

Ross is a resourceful man though, and hopefully he can figure out something and do what Joe Robbie did. Get it done without public assistance.

Take up sponsers from the local businesses that would benefit from those games then.

The Miami Dolphins are not going to move off to California. Something will come back around. Perhaps Dave can take up a collection on this website to help

I don't think Ross wants to lose out on all those Super Bowls. I think he will end up footing the whole bill... OR... selling.

Er . . .

I'm not sure which games you've been watching, but 60k is right about capacity for the stadium, and I can guarantee you that at no point since our one playoff game after 08 have we come close to 60k.

Ross didn't not get money because of the Marlins, but because people are tired of being taxed so that their hard earned money can be given to a billionaire so he can improve HIS stadium, then take all of the profit generated from it.

If he wants to improve his stadium, he should pay for it. It's as simple as that.

Attendance for Dolphin games is pretty pathetic. I dont care what the announced ticket sales are , there are plenty of empty seats & by the start of the third quarter a good part of the people that showed up are in their cars heading out. The home playoff game vs. the Ravens 01 was actually blacked out while the one in 08 I believe a bunch of remaining seats had to be bought up by the TV station as usual.

There has been so much misinformation on this topic its not even funny.

First, the proposal would not tax residents, it would tax tourists.

Second, the people didn't vote this down. The speaker of the Florida house did not let it come to a vote despite passing the Senate by a wide margin. It was also expected to pass the house by a wide margin. THEN it would have gone to referundum.

Oppose or support, people should at least get their facts straight.

Gotta love the teaparty.

This isn't the last we've heard of this idea. If the Dolphins make the playoffs and sell more tickets this season I'll bet a similar bill will come up again next year. It's all about perception (and not necessarily facts), and the perception in South Florida is that the people are going to get burdened with paying for another stadium for another losing franchise (even if that isn't the case). When Ross can get his team back to winning (ie. playoffs), he'll get his upgraded stadium.

I agree.

We had on average 57,675 fans per game. Pretty close to 60,000, wouldn't you agree?

What you fail to mention is that's only good for 29th out of 32 teams in the league.

Considering how Ross and Dee are killing the Speaker of the House (Weatherford) and the guy who is in line to be the NEXT Speaker of the House in Florida....I think its over for the Dolphins when it comes to Public Money. The next few years if not more like maybe a decade they won't have the speaker of the house on their side. Don't expect any bills to come to the floor that will HELP the Miami Dolphins get their upgrades.

Updated to add. Dolphins CEO Mike Dee was on 790 The Ticket saying that Ross will not invest any more money in Sun Life Stadium and that the team's future is in doubt

Sounds clear as of today from interviews and reports that Ross plans on selling this team soon (next couple years) and it will be up to the new owner to beg to get the politicians of Miami/Florida to build him a stadium or just say F' it and move to LA.

WK .... I dont think its about winning anymore. I also dont know if you are local or not living here in S. Florida but I will assume you are not & if you are I am sorry for my wrong assumption. But we have been fleeced by teams for quite some time now & people here are just have a non trusting attitude towards these owners. This is one of the few topics where the politicians are deemed more trustworthy on. If a similar bill somehow gets brought back it will be assumed pockets were lined. Nobody wants this team to leave & I really doubt it ever will but no matter who is footing the bill as a parent of 2 in the public school system as well as seeing friends & neighbors foreclosed on , there are much more pressing issues than paying for a billionaires stadium. Ross' company assets are over 15 billion dollars . threatening to move the team because of this only has him come across as a bully. This issue is not like grading a trade or signing free agents or believing we are close. You have to take off the rose colored glasses & put down the kool aid for this one.

Ross has said he would not move the team. What he didn't is if he would sell the team. The new owner may very well want to head west. Plus, Ross has an interest in the group who wants to build the new stadium in LA

You're correct, I'm from out of state. But after having read the proposal, I still fail to see what the local public saw in the bill that was so terrible. All they were calling for was a stadium tax to be charged to out-of-towners staying at hotels. As someone who travels out of state frequently, I see these kinds of stadium taxes applied to my hotel bills on occasion, and it isn't a very big deal. In other words if I came to Miami to see a Dolphins game and spent $300 for two nights at a hotel for the weekend, and the stadium tax is 2.5%, then I'd pay $7.50 in stadium taxes. Not a very big deal to me since I'm used to it as a traveler. To me this seems like something that really doesn't affect people like you, in fact, it seems to me like something that could help some of your neighbors find work. If Ross is taking money from out of towners to build his stadium, and employing several hundred people to rebuild the stadium, and bringing in major attractions that bring more tourism to the area (which creates even more jobs), I guess I fail to see how that hurts locals. But I don't live there so I guess I have no clue how south Florida politics work.

The public never even got to vote on it. It was killed in the house by two stupid politicians

The public here has been burned & burdened to many times in the past on these issues. The politicians are reacting to the outcry of the public. Killing the bill like they did was probably the right thing to do but lets face it like most politicians they also succumbed to protecting their job.
Look , its Ross' team & stadium. Let him pay for his renovations. Ross gave 100 million to the University of Michigan & they renamed its business school after him. Surely being from Miami , he can be just as charitable locally. He will reap larger rewards.

Think this is why we have all these 1 year contracts??

If we didn't get the bill to pass, then Ross won't have to invest more more money into the team next year...

Sure hope this is not the case.

One person should not be the lone voice. It should have gone to a public vote.

This is true. And there is a good chance the public would have voted it down.



This is not true. Got your facts wrong on this one. The Senate passed the bill 34-2, the House was getting ready to pass it. The Speaker of the House, who is from Tampa and has larger political aspirations, killed the bill singlehandedly. The rumor is his pockets were lined by Norman Braman.

I agree with this.

The Speaker of the House killed the bill for his own personal gain.

Let the people decide... isn't that what this country is about?

I realize this, I was directly responding to eleaf, who said we "haven't drew anywhere near 60,000 people in a decade", which was completely false.

I'd have to agree here. You took the risk of purchasing the franchise... now put YOUR money into... not the publics money.

Maybe, but why shouldn't he attempt to acquire public funds? He wouldn't be the first private business owner to do it.

And also, don't you think it would be more fair if the public voted for it, especially since the Dolphins agreed to pay for the referendum, than having one guy kill the bill before we get to vote?

Let the people of Miami-Dade have their voice.

I didn't address the issue of letting the people vote because in my mind that should be a no brainer. How one guy can just say no to allowing a vote to the public is truly baffling to me and seemingly against the guidelines of American society.

Private companies asking the public for money has always been an issue to me though. A billionaire is asking the every day man to contribute more than he's already contributing? It's hard enough to stay afloat in this economy without having to contribute to a stadium as well.

I understand this would have been achieved through a "bed tax" at hotels and the such... but still...

If i'm not mistaken the Dolphins were or did already pay the money it would have cost for the State to have the vote.

I get the argument about a rich guy asking for a handout. But on the flipside, I also get the argument about the benefits of renovating the stadium to the local economy.

People were pissed when Micky Arison got public money for the Triple A, but if you go to downtown Miami today, the Triple A has been a big key in helping revitalize the Brickell and Downtown area. It used to be that at 5pm, Downtown Miami became a ghost town. Now it is one of the hot spots with a lot of restaurants and shops.

Granted it is a far stretch that the area the Dolphins Stadium is located in would see similar results since it is actually mostly residential aside from a couple of hotels and a casino, but the impact in getting people employed to work on the project and the impact of Superbowls coming to Miami cannot be denied.

Basically Ross is saying, help me pay for this and it will benefit South Florida and to a certain extent he is right.

I'm really not hot or cold on the stadium deal... it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't type of thing.

But I'm pretty disgusted at the way the Speaker of the Florida House handled this and I am starting to get ticked off at the way Ross and Mike Dee are responding.

Everyone is trying to bully everyone.

They were ready to pay for the cost of the referendum, which is typically done by the county or the state.

About $5 million.

I don't live in South FLA. I live in VA. So I have no right to suggest how South FLA should establish it's taxes and spend the money.

However, I am a season ticket holder. If I understand it correctly, if passed, the referendum would have increased the hotel tax. Which impacts...... me. I'm a season ticket holder and travel to FLA for 4 games a year. I've got a small storage unit with my tailgate gear, that I unpack for home games with my fellow fin fans. For a stadium we can be proud of, I would bear my part of the burden. But like I said, I'm not a resident, so it's not my right to make that decision. I also won't weigh in on whether the owners should ask for public help when building and doing renovations. Many owners do. South FLA was fortunate that the Robbie familiy built the stadium without asking for that money. Season ticket holders have also been fortunate that we haven't been hit with a Seat License fee to help pay for improvements. But I know that you've been burned by other teams that did things on the sly. So you're suspicious, as you should be.

All that being said. It DO believe that it should have been up to the citizens of the community to have a say on the issue. They may have voted yes... they may have voted no. My issue (and it should be yours if you live there) is that one man (with aspirations) choose not to let you have a say, or even let the other half of the two part government system have it's say. He used a "tactic" to take the vote out of your hands.

That is an issue. That is a sign of the moral fiber of the individual. I'd be pissed if I were you. Whether you want the stadium or not. I'd be wary of this politician and his financial supporters. But for now you'll have to manage him, since he's not on the national stage, and I didn't get a vote. Just remember.... you didn't either.

I truely hope the Fins stay in South FLA. As fin fans, it's all we've ever known. It would be hard for me to think of them anywhere else.

And besides. I like your beautiful state. And I like visiting.

GO FINS! Kick some Jests @$$, and put Brady on his!

Mike Dee says the Dolphins future in South Florida is "bleak"

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/92463 ... o-mike-dee

Yo FijiOz...........just sent you a private message......glad you're back!

Scare tactics. Trying to strong arm us.

Don't forget the NFL in this whole sorted mess. The NFL is the force behind this in regards to trying to get the stadium upgrades done or no Super Bowl.

You get one rare occasion of rain in Florida for a Super Bowl and the stadium needs to be upgraded, yet you are willing to have fans freeze their asses off in New Jersey for the 2014 Super Bowl in an open air stadium.

I've been saying that to my friends ever since I heard Goodell say that a while back. What an idiot.

What exactly need to be done anyway?? rich pointed out that a few years ago the club level among other things were re done & during a stadium tour I took all this was pointed out. They even took us into the ladies johns to point out the new Kohler sinks & crappers (no joke). Super Bowls aside the stadium is more than adequate for the crowds that show up at the Dolphin games.

What about Club Liv? Damn it!