Posted on 05/04/2013 4:45:54 AM PDT by SoFloFreeper
A proposal by the Miami Dolphins to use taxpayer money to help finance an upgrade of the NFL team's stadium failed on Friday to win broad support among Florida state lawmakers, dealing a potential blow to Miami's bid to host the 2016 Super Bowl.
The Dolphins, owned by real estate tycoon Stephen Ross, lobbied the state legislature for months to back a bill to increase hotel taxes in Miami-Dade County to finance nearly half of a proposed $350 million renovation of the Sun Life Stadium, which is privately owned.
(Excerpt) Read more at mobile.reuters.com ...
The Dolphins even held a "job fair" earlier in the week...to entice people into thinking their employment hinged on the team getting into the taxpayers pocket.
The media jumped on the "corporate welfare" bandwagon....hyping the "need" for a billionaire to use the common man's money to pay for the improvements to HIS private property.
I say let Ross tap the resources of his millionaire celebrity friends who have a minority interest in the team...like the pro-Obama Estefans or that girl Fergie from the Black Eye Peas....
This is the original Joe Robie stadium?
IIRC Robie built that stadium w/o taxpayer money. One of the few, maybe only.
They just went through a deal on a new stadium for Atlanta with the Falcons (Arthur Blank?).....The mayor, Kaseem Reed reached a deal (ha)....some taxpayer dollars and all the directed subcontracting from design to final cleanup before opening he can engineer under the covers for his buddies, I guess.
pay for your own Crap, you big Fluke
Bring the Dolphins to Maryland. O’Malley can be bought easily. He can build them a new stadium outside Baltimore with taxpayer dollars. Yes we already have the Ravens, but O’Malley just likes to use taxpayer money.
Miami fans are absolutely angry. They just bought the Marlins an expensive stadium. The team slashed the payroll to nearly the lowest in the league. They built in Little Havana which irritated the majority of their fan base. They did this in1997 as well when they had the world series parade there as well.
Lastly there is nothing wrong with Joe Robbie Stadium aka Su n Life Stadium Aka Landshark Stadium aka Pro Player stadium. It is still a very modern stadium.
Yes, he built it w/o welfare.
Wow, being a Floridian living in Tampa, I am heartbroken that my hard earned tax dollars will not be spent on a new stadium in Miami for a billionaire NFL owners... /S
I can see it now..."The Maryland Mallards"
LOL
I understand the need for improvements, but Ross is worth more than $4 BILLION! If he cannot find funding for his property, then his property deserves to deteriorate.
The next step is to threaten to move the team unless a new stadium (or these renovations) are completed. There will be massive advertising, people will be paraded on the news to lament how much revenue will be lost if the team moves.
Then next will be the election and the team owner will fund several candidates with big bucks. These folks will win.
After all an exceptional stadium will bring in BILLIONS of dollars, create 10,000 new jobs and ensure the employment of untold millions who rely on the spending of football fans during the 8 games they play at home.
Then in a couple more years the taxpayers will be on the hook for not renovations, but an entirely new stadium built to rival the home of the Dallas Cowboys - no self respecting city can permit another city to have a better stadium.
Make that O’Mallards.
Where? I was born and raised in SW Miami. Can't picture where a stadium could be built.
The whole idea of taxpayer money being used for a private stadium really pisses me off.
The average guy can't afford an afternoon at a game. Yet he helps pay for it?
I was in DC last weekend, took in a couple Nationals games. A couple and 2 kids could spend $200 easily.
Marlins Park is on the site of the old Orange Bowl.
Orange Bowl is gone? Went to many a game there.
Home field of Miami High Stingarees , U of Miami, Dolphins
Went to games of all three.
You can save money by making the kids buy their own beer.
/johnny
They all want some one else to pay for their sports toys.
The buzz in Seattle why the NBA voted against the bankrupt Sacramento Kings moving to Seattle is that the SEA owner’s group said they will be building an arena with private money.
The NBA owner’s group (it’s being said) that have teams in likewise poor financial straights, do not want their cities to say “See? See what Seattle did with private money??”
I dunno. One could make a VERY good case for a new Tampa stadium based on it's "looks" alone.
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