Dolphins Drop Campaign To Fund Sun Life Stadium Renovations

Campaign To Fund Sun Life Stadium Improvements Dropped Due To Economy

The Dolphins have "dropped a campaign to fund roughly" $200M in Sun Life Stadium improvements with a hike in Miami-Dade hotel taxes, "saying the county's troubled economy and budget made the effort ill-timed," according to Douglas Hanks of the MIAMI HERALD. Team officials last week "scuttled a bill set to be filed in Tallahassee that would increase the cap on Miami-Dade hotel taxes from 6 to 7 percent to renovate both Sun Life Stadium and the Miami Beach Convention Center." After weeks of "lobbying for the bill, team officials decided they couldn't compete with local economic woes." Dolphins CEO Mike Dee: "We wanted to make sure we were sensitive to those things. ... We see the challenges with the local county budget." The Dolphins' campaign began in January "when the team revealed plans for what Dee said Monday would be a $189[M] redo of the privately owned stadium, with a partial roof to shield spectators from the elements and 3,000 more premium seats near the field." Dee said that the team "will continue pursuing public support" for the project. Dee: "This thing is going to require more discussion" (MIAMI HERALD, 3/2).