The Dolphins have signed a long-term naming rights deal with Hard Rock Int’l for their 30-year-old stadium in South Florida. Sources said that the Orlando-based company that owns and operates restaurants, casinos and hotels has signed an 18-year deal to rename the building Hard Rock Stadium. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the overall value places it among the top three deals in the NFL, sources said. The facility is currently undergoing a $500M renovation to be completed in ‘17 and will play host to Super Bowl LIV in ‘20. Hard Rock Stadium becomes the eighth official name for the building that opened as Joe Robbie Stadium in ‘87. Sun Life Financial’s five-year naming rights expired after last season’s Orange Bowl (Don Muret, Staff Writer). In Miami, Armando Salguero wrote because Hard Rock Int'l is an "entertainment and hospitality company it does not preclude the possibility the Dolphins can add secondary sponsors such as banks, beer, alcohol and soft drink companies and even automotive manufacturers or auto dealers" (MIAMI HERALD, 8/17). In Ft. Lauderdale, Andrew Abramson notes there is an "argument to be made that the Dolphins are glorifying gambling by naming their stadium after the Seminole Tribe of [a] Florida-owned chain, which includes the massive casino complex in Hollywood." But after "undergoing so many name changes in the last 30 years ... the newest incarnation is easily the most memorable since" Joe Robbie Stadium. Abramson: "South Florida is our home but it's also an entertainment playground. It's flashy, sometimes to a fault. Hard Rock Stadium fits it perfectly" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 8/17).
A NEW ERA: In Rochester, Leo Roth gives a "tip of the hat" to the Bills for "finally selling the naming rights to the stadium they play in, a stadium built, maintained and refurbished numerous times by Erie County and New York state taxpayers." Buffalo-based New Era Cap having the naming rights marks a "new era" under co-Owners Kim & Terry Pegula. Roth: "Melancholy sets in seeing the name of beloved team founder Ralph Wilson removed. ... But it would be disingenuous of me to criticize the decision" (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 8/17).
