Miami-Dade Budgets Money Owed To Heat For Missing Arena Sponsor

Months past the "deadline to sign a new sponsor" for the Heat's arena, Miami-Dade County has "budgeted the $2 million it owes the team if it can’t land a naming-rights buyer to replace American Airlines," according to Douglas Hanks of the MIAMI HERALD. The arena "already receives a county subsidy" worth $5.4M a year. The county pays the Heat $6.4M, but the team "donates $1 million of that to the county Parks Department." The county "enters its ninth month without an arena naming-rights deal" after the American Airlines agreement expired at the end of '19. Miami-Dade "hired a consultant to find a sponsor." The consultant, Cleveland-based Superlative Group, "didn’t manage to land a deal before the end" of '19 and now is "navigating a sponsorship market upended by the coronavirus pandemic." Miami-Dade County CFO Ed Marquez said that talks are "still underway with would-be sponsors that the county hasn’t publicly identified" (MIAMI HERALD, 8/31).