Crandon Park Loses Expansion Appeal, Increasing Likelihood Of Miami Open Departure

Miami-Dade County rules preventing Crandon Park expansion plans "officially survived a legal challenge" in state court yesterday, ending a long-shot appeal that the ATP/WTA Miami Open "had already signaled it wasn’t expecting to win," according to Douglas Hanks of the MIAMI HERALD. The Third District Court of Appeal in Miami "declined to revisit a ruling that it had already issued" against tournament owner IMG in the company’s "fight to win county approval" for a $50M privately funded expansion of the tennis facility on Key Biscayne. Miami-Dade Assistant County Attorney Oren Rosenthal said that ruling means the "case is over." The tourney already said that the court fight "would likely mean the end of its tenure in Key Biscayne because of its need to grow revenues and keep the tourney prizes competitive" (MIAMI HERALD, 4/20).