Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross has "proposed building a state-of-the-art tennis complex adjacent to Hard Rock Stadium and partnering" with the ATP/WTA Miami Open owners to "move the 32-year-old tournament from Key Biscayne to Miami Gardens," according to sources cited in a front-page piece by Kaufman & Hanks of the MIAMI HERALD. Ross and Dolphins President & CEO Tom Garfinkel were at the Crandon Park tournament grounds last Thursday, where they "met with Miami Open executives to discuss their plan." Their proposal, which would be privately funded, would include a Stadium Court "inside the football stadium for marquee matches, a smaller permanent Grandstand Stadium, permanent match courts and permanent practice courts." It would also feature a "hospitality area with permanent dining and entertainment facilities that could be used not only for the tennis tournament, but also for fans attending Dolphins games, soccer matches and other events at the stadium." Miami Open Founder and Int'l Tennis HOFer Butch Buchholz would “'strongly prefer' the event stay in its present home but says the Ross plan is a better alternative than losing the tournament to another city." The Ross overture comes as Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez "wants to explore a potential court fight over the strict controls that the owner of the Miami Open tennis tournament failed to get tossed in court last year" (MIAMI HERALD, 3/27).
STILL PLENTY TO BE WORKED OUT: In Ft. Lauderdale, Harvey Fialkov notes Miami Open Tournament Dir Adam Barrett and WME-IMG, the owners and operators of the tournament, put together a $50M proposal nearly five years ago to "upgrade the facilities, including the construction of another permanent stadium in addition to two already standing." However, the Matheson family, which "owns the 32-acre plot the tournament is built on, continues to fight against any further expansion in court." A source said that Miami-Dade officials "would never go for a move to Hard Rock Stadium because the tournament pays the city" approximately $2.5M per year for the event, but if Ross gets the tournament, the city "would have to pay him." Venus Williams, who is a Dolphins co-Owner with her sister Serena, said, "(Ross) loves tennis, I love tennis, so ... let's keep it in South Florida. Yeah. If it works, I would love that." Roger Federer said, "I don't think they can improve much in terms of capacity. So the question is, is everybody happy this way or not? If you want to go bigger, clearly you have to move" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 3/27). In Miami, Michelle Kaufman noted Rafael Nadal "lobbied to keep the tournament in Miami." He said, "Key Biscayne is a gorgeous place, and I hope it stays here; but if it has to move, the most important thing is that the tournament stays in Miami" (MIAMI HERALD, 3/25).
