The city of Miami Gardens "wants a permanent stream of revenue" from the Dolphins if Sun Life Stadium stops paying about $1M a year in municipal property taxes, but team Owner Stephen Ross yesterday warned that the city "cannot count on professional football staying if his latest plan to renovate the stadium fails," according to Hanks & Beasley of the MIAMI HERALD. Ross: "If I sell the team, I can assure you, with the viewpoint of the politicians and what they want to do, the new owner is going to move the team. ... If I'm putting up all the money, how's it not going to be successful? How could they reject this?" Ross spent yesterday "trying to bolster support for his bid to have Miami-Dade County assume ownership of his stadium." Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert said that he "began talks this week with team executives after news broke of Ross' discussions with Miami-Dade County about the potential swap." Gilbert said that he "wants a permanent stream of revenue from the Dolphins that would not only match the current tax bill, but keep pace with future growth." Ross said of last year's failed efforts to get some public funding for renovations, "When I saw that I'm not going to get it through the Legislature, I looked at a different course of action. I want to get it done in my lifetime, want it to be part of my legacy. That’s basically the intent of doing it and doing it now, if we're going to get a Super Bowl." Ross said that spending related to the Super Bowl and the College Football Playoff "would more than offset the loss of government revenue" (MIAMI HERALD, 3/13).
